True Dreaming
by Kagetaka
Summary: It really started off as nothing more than a strange dream. Every night, Demetra would dream the same thing, an open blue sea, an endless sky, and a crew of notorious pirates. Next thing she knew, she went from being an invisible bystander to more.
1. The Dreamer's Tale

**I see alot of these going around the OP fanfiction section. But for one, this one isn't going to follow the rules all that much of a 'girl falls into OP' work. Hopefully I can pull it off successfully, and so, please, give it a shot and see how it turns out.**

**-Kagetaka**

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True Dreaming

_It really started off as nothing more than a strange dream. Every night, Demetra would dream the same thing, an open blue sea, an endless sky, and a crew of notorious pirates. Next thing she knew, she went from being an invisible bystander to something more in her dreams. And soon, Demetra learns that there is much, much more to her seemingly innocent nightly trips to another world._

**Prologue**

**The Dreamer's Tale**

--

_I take a shower, blow dry my hair, brush my teeth, climb into pajamas and hop into bed. But none of that is significant. Because it starts the same way every night. _

_I stare for hours up at my ceiling. It is dark. Closing my eyes does not make a difference. But no matter how long I watch the roof above my head, a different sort of darkness claims me, drags me down to the depths of sweet, dear, merciful rest. _

_Sleep ended for me around a month ago. When I woke up, the ceiling was no more. The sky was blue. My walls were gone, replaced by an unending cascade of blue, blue, and more blue. The bittersweet stench of salt struck my nose and flew out of bed, doing the only thing I knew to do in this situation. I screamed. And screamed and screamed, yet nothing happened, no one came running, not a single kidnapper to shut me up. What was going on? What had happened? Where… was I?_

_When I ran out of air and finally overcame my initial shock, I looked around, like any sane person. Alright, so I was obviously exaggerating things in my panic. I wasn't completely surrounded by the sky and the sea. The peaceful roll of the planks beneath my feet slightly upset my head and stomach fluids but I hoped I could manage. My state aside, the second things I noticed were… the tackiest dressed people I'd ever seen in my life. A part of me wondered if they were some sort of heavy metal band traveling on a ship. A quick glance up to the sails proved otherwise as a jolly roger stared back down at me with its blank accusing eyes, as if it were telling me I should not be here. Pirates. My heart stopped. I was on a pirate ship. And the pirates did not look the part of friendly people. At all. In fact, the only thing funny about what was going on was the fact that I was in my pajamas. On a ship._

_But these people… these… pirates. They were not looking at me. They weren't even acknowledging me. As if I hadn't just screamed for five bloody minutes straight. They ignored me, so I stood up and looked around. Apparently I was allowed to, given that no body had stopped me yet. Meekly, I went to tap the closest person to me and almost screamed again out of shock when my finger penetrated his skin and went out the other side of his shoulder. _

_I was… intangible. The last thing I remembered was falling asleep. This was a dream. But this thought didn't assure me at all as I saw the ocean and even tasted the salt on the wind. It was so real. I thought it was a dream. But it's been happening every day since last month- _

--

The heavy sounds of feet heading up the stairs caused Demetra to slam her hand across the newly inked page- wincing when she realized what she had just allowed surprise to do to her. Carefully, she removed her hand and breathed a sigh of relief when the writing turned out to be mostly intact. Her hand, on the other hand, had not been so fortunate.

"Demetra, honey! Dinner!" Her mother called, apparently having stopped on the stairs, not bothered to continue the rest of the way her voice could carry. "One minute, young lady!"

"Be right there mum!" Demetra quickly called back, holding her ruined hand away from her bed sheets and quickly stowed the still open diary underneath the bed. Hopefully the dust would not damage the pages. Hastily, she made for the bathroom and seized a bar of soap, scrubbing furiously at her hand before rinsing. Grey lines were still visible where the ink had been, but it was satisfactory. At least her mum wouldn't throw up a storm about it.

She took the stairs, two at a time, turned the corner and reminded herself to calm down and compose herself before attending to the dinner table. It didn't work, seeing how she was still out of breath when her mother turned to greet her with a frown.

"Demetra- must you always be cooped up in your room doing god-knows-what?" She scolded, bustling her dark-haired daughter to the table and pressing her to sit down. "And Demetra, dear? What have I told you about that make-up?" The older woman rebuked.

"Not to lay it on too thick." Demetra muttered sullenly, half-heartedly rubbing at her eyes, which were heavily accented by her black eyeliner.

"And the boots need to come off." Her mother added, shooting a glare at the knee-high metal studded boots Demetra wore. "Honestly Deme, I don't see what you teenagers see in this so-called 'Goth' thing."

Demetra rolled her eyes, carefully averting them so her mother would not see. "I'll take them off mum. And that's just it. It's a 'thing'. Nothing to get too worried over." Before she nearly stood up, Demetra quickly sat down again and mumbled, "May I please be excused from the table?"

"Yes dear- come back right away when you get that dreadful makeup off and those atrocious boots too! Honestly! Street clothing is fine for school, but not at my dinner table, young lady!"

"Yes, _mum_." She placed sarcastic emphasis on the 'mum', but turned obediently to leave the table.

Her nostrils flared. "If you expect me to take that attitude from you, then you may as well skip on dinner." She sniffed. "Demetra Traumer?"

"I- I'm not that hungry!" It wasn't true. She was starving. But let her mother think she was fine, she would know no better like the rest of them. They would brush it off as some teenager's hormone thing.

Once more, she took the steps, two at once, ignoring her mother's ranting which echoed in her ears. Her head was starting to ache, so she flung the door open to her room and swiped the pen off her bed and replaced it back on her desk. Then she pounced on the unoccupied bed and inhaled her own scent from the sheets and the comforters.

"Deme!" A series of rapping rang against her door. "Deme, I brought dinner up."

"Thanks Kyle…" Demetra muttered wearily, and swung herself from the bed and unlocked the door with a click. "Thanks… a lot." She repeated herself, taking the dish without really thinking about it.

Before she could close the door and lock it again, her brother stuck his foot through the door and shook his head. "Deme. We're all worried about you."

"I know that." She responded tiredly. "You don't have to though. I'm fine." Somehow, her brother seemed to see through every half-lie she came up with. Then again, she was closer with her brother than she was with anyone else.

"No. No, you're not. You need to stop going out. With those friends of yours."

"They're not my friends. I broke off with them last year, Ky." Demetra replied, starting to grow exasperated.

He blinked once, but remained undeterred, "Then I shouldn't see you retching your guts out in the toilet after dinner anymore, should I?"

Weariness gave away to the cold, sharp, sting of surprise. "Wha…? How did you find out?"

"It's not that hard. You know they teach us those symptoms at school. And those people you used to hang out with- please don't tell me you think _this_ is natural." Kyle muttered darkly, gesturing at his sister's unnaturally slim body. "Do you think this is beautiful, Deme? Cause I don't."

"You're a guy. And my brother." She answered flatly, clearly unimpressed.

Now he was also starting to grow annoyed. "Deme, that's the point. I'm a guy. And your brother. I see attractive girls all the time and trust me, _this_ ain't attractive. You look like death came to life in human form. Now eat that." He groaned when she eyed the dish warily. "Look, 200 some calories isn't going make you the least bit fat at all. Eat! And don't let me catch you- oh screw that- don't you dare throw it all up, you hear me Deme? You're killing yourself!"

That was her brother through and through. Always the source of logic- logic that she didn't seem to posses much of when it came to her looks. She looked down at the cooling dish and reluctantly gave a small nod. "I know what I'm doing isn't… right. But… do I have to finish it all, Ky? You know I can't handle too much."

He shot her with another hard stare, but finally relented and softened. "All right. Eat half. No throwing it up. And I'll leave you alone for now. But one last thing. That's not makeup either, isn't it, Deme?"

She stared back at his departing back, but he halted at the door for her answer. "No." She answered finally, slowly. "No, it isn't." Demetra sighed, reaching up to massage the dark circles beneath her eyes. The door clicked shut and so did her eyes. "I told you. Sleep stopped a month ago for me." She said aloud to nobody in particular.

Sighing once more, she set the dish on the table next to her bed and settled down on top of the sheets, aimlessly glaring at the ceiling. Dutifully, she took one or two bites of the food her brother had gathered for her before pushing the rest off to the side. As usual, she didn't remember when her eyes stopped gazing at the ceiling, and when it had been replaced by the searing blue sky.

--

The pirates had clearly stopped to restock on supplies. Demetra opened her eyes and found the ship devoid of activity and life. Struggling to her feet, she almost lurched to the side when the waves gave the ship a particularly nasty throw. Nausea flooded her senses once more with a vengeance, and her head pounded even more fiercely than it had when she had been running up the stairs. All together, her body was punishing her ferociously for her abuse of it. Perhaps Kyle was right; screw her habit and her looks. Clearly if she ate anything right now, it would be used immediately to reinforce her failing body. Maybe if she just ate enough for that…

The plank was still set, from the deck to the dock, guarded by a single punk sporting shades and a Mohawk. A lower tier crewmember. By now, Demetra knew fully well none of these dream people could see, much less, interact with her. She was in her world and them in their own. It took a moment more, but the pounding eventually dissipated. Once she had regained control over the rest of her senses, Demetra stumbled from the ship, inching her way down slowly so that she would not topple into the ocean in her state.

As expected, the underling didn't even look up when she staggered past him, her platform boots making down clopping noises as she stumbled down the plank and onto the dock. Even less surprising was the lack of people wandering around town. Her month-long stay in this world had taught her several things about the crew that piloted the ship she always awoke upon.

Apparently they called themselves the Kidd Pirates- courtesy no doubt, of their captain's name. And apparently they were supposed to also be extremely dangerous- but she had yet to see any such danger happen yet. Her entire month had been merely spent wandering up and down the ship as an invisible specter, watching the proceedings while she waited for her alarm to yank her from this strange dream world.

But this time, the ship was docked and there was dry land beneath her feet. Demetra didn't know what sort of gods this dream world worshipped, but she must have done at least something right up till now that they would give her such a relief. No rocking ship to drive her crazy or to unsettle her stomach. And no bizarrely dressed people and their loud voices echoing around her head.

"Like I have a right to talk. I'm the Goth here." She muttered angrily to herself, not really watching her path. Not like it mattered either, she was intangible to everything and anything, they simply went through her.

She tried the first shop she found- which turned out not to be a shop after all, but a bar, filled to the brim with the exact same pirates she had been sailing with unknowingly for an entire month. Their fiery-haired captain was sticking out like a signpost, despite the fact he was gathered in a corner with his inner circle. "Oh great. I just _can't_ get away from them, can I?" Already the heavy musky scent of alcohol and the ringing of laughter was already causing her head to pound again. Immediately, she turned to leave, and merely phased through the swinging doors, before trying the shop across the street.

Demetra wondered what these dreams were all about. Very seldom did her dreams actually… continue. Like a story and its sequel. It was strange, bizarre, and a little scary, but the shock had worn off after the first week. Now she expected to come here every night she closed her eyes.

But the novelty of it all was wearing out even faster than ever. Same old sea, same old sky, same old rude, disrespectful louts that ran this ship. She had to admit this trip had been an unexpected surprise, but she shook her head ruefully as she eyed all the items she could see but not touch, possess, or buy. Guns, swords, all the good stuff, from weaponry to luxuries.

Really, in the end, there was nothing to do but return to the bar and wait for the entire crew to finish their impromptu party and follow them back to the ship. With a final regretful look at the silken black scarf that had caught her eye, Demetra wandered out through the walls and passed back into the bar sullenly. No one noticed, as usual.

The newer and less powerful members of the crew never discussed anything remotely interesting outside of their next raid or perhaps the 'pathetic wimps' they had recently beaten up. Demetra stiffly looked around for the first couple minutes before giving into her curiosity and heading towards the captain's table. There was an open seat next to the masked 'Massacre Soldier' Killer, so Demetra slid into it gingerly, every so often shooting a nervous glance at the people around the table, insuring that they could still not see her. Furthermore, Killer never seemed to do any drinking, hence he was perfect to stick around.

"We're reaching Sabaody in another two days, Kidd." Killer suddenly spoke up. Demetra snorted softly- the man's voice was surprisingly clear despite the fact his entire face was blotted out by the blue and white mask. "We'd better not be staying on that place for too long."

The captain shot his first mate a saucy look, encouraged on by the drink. "Please. I'm not scared, you're not scared, hell, the rest of us ain't scared. What are you so worried about?"

"Overconfident much?" Demetra mumbled to herself, almost enviously. "Someone needs to deflate his head a bit. Amazing how that ship of his remains afloat when he's on it." One of the loveliest things about being essentially intangible, invisible, and un-hearable was the fact she could insult someone to their face and they would not- could not- retaliate.

"I'm not doubting anything. But perhaps I can remind you that we'll be practically tapping on the Marine HQ's front door? Not to mention the Tenryuubito will undoubtedly be seen on the archipelago as well. We can't even pick a good fight there, Kidd."

Looking like he had been slapped, Kidd looked away, muttering an almost quiet "Damn" that Demetra- and no doubt Killer, caught. "Alright. We stop long enough to get the ship coated, then we're outta there. No fun in a half-assed place like that."

"Indeed." Killer responded dryly.

The table fell silent once more, leaving Demetra to her own thoughts. Sabaody Archipelago was there next destination, and however long it took a ship to be coated was however long it took for her to be able to explore the next location of interest. Maybe the dream was finally getting interesting.

Conversation did not seem to be returning to the table, so Demetra heaved a disappointed sigh and started to re-analyze the upper tier crewmembers once more. There were two in particular she had yet to hear names of- one man with a slightly uninterested look on his face with a pair of giant horns constructed of hair sticking out of his head. The other simply resembled a giant zombie with long wavy blue hair, stitches, and tattoos.

On the other hand, Demetra turned to observe the masked man besides her. Even when she had dreamed of this world when it was dark, he had retained his mask even in bed. It was somewhat frustrating, since his face was a mystery and mysteries begged to be solved. Given his general demeanor, at least he seemed more cool-headed than his captain. Here, she chanced a look at Eustass 'Captain' Kidd.

By now she understood that unnatural hair color could be natural in this world- yet she didn't really want to find out if his was naturally red. And it was spiky. In her world, he would have made a fine musician in the heavy metal industry, perhaps. He and his entire crew. Demetra snorted again- he acted and dressed worse than most of her former friends. Furthermore, he was almost as pale as she was- but of course, she was even paler still, since she always avoided the sun when she could help it, whereas it had to be difficult avoiding the sun on a ship you were captain of.

The bar doors swung open again and instinctively Demetra turned her head slightly and peered out from the corner of her eye as some no-name swaggered in, seemingly unaware of the semi-hostile glares he was receiving. On her right, she felt Killer tensing up, so she quickly shot out from her chair and strode away from the table, making her way to the doors.

Even if she was intangible, she didn't really want to stick around when the unknown person started picking fights. Pirate brawls could never be fun, and Demetra didn't want to know if they could be fun or not.

Unfortunately, she heard the intruder mutter something and obviously some of the closer crewmembers took offense to whatever he had said and launched themselves at the strange man. Then she quickly snuck a second glance at Kidd and groaned. He was more temperamental than a Gila monster!

He didn't seem to mind that his men were actually losing to one person, but rather, he stood with a wide grin on his face- one, Demetra knew, wasn't kind at all but filled with some form of cruel amusement that even caused her to cringe, despite the fact there was nothing he could do to what he couldn't see, hear, or touch. Without warning, he lashed out with one of his hands and suddenly, kitchen utensils- namely the forks and knives, were sent hurtling at unimaginable speeds towards the intruder, who didn't even have time to blink or rue his fatal blunder.

Demetra slammed her eyes shut before the blood could even start flying- this wasn't what she had wanted to see. The mocking, cruel laughter of the pirates and the possible body on the ground. She wanted to hurl- naturally, for once. Quickly, she stumbled from the suddenly stifling bar and nearly collapsed into the abandoned streets. Numbly, she sank against the wall of the bar and gazed emptily into the sky.

Her lips curled as she wordlessly snarled. Disgusting beasts. How could they so easily…kill? Surely a couple words wasn't worth a man's life! Nothing gave them the right to do as they did, and yet she had no choice but to awaken every night on their ship and watch the things they did.

Her stomach gave a sharp twinge, the only warning she had before bile threatened to rise in her throat and quickly, she swallowed thickly and forced it back down. But it still didn't stop her entire body from heaving as she went to her knees clutching at her clenching throat. Demetra closed her eyes and forced herself to take several deep breaths.

But when she opened her eyes again, trying not to think of the unfortunate cocky moron who had picked out the wrong bar to enter and the wrong occupants to insult, nothing but the faded white ceiling and the stream of sunlight falling through her open window greeted her eyes. Her alarm read 6:48 AM.

Her heart hadn't stopped pounding, however. And her stomach was growling again. Grumbling some half-hearted oaths, Demetra hauled her body to the edge of her bed and eyed the cold leftovers, swallowed up her pride and picked up the fork.

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**Nothing helps me more than constructive criticism. Flames, or personal rants on 'I hate OCs in fiction' will be used for my personal entertainment. **

**So please, review, favorite, do something to show me that people are actually reading this. Even if you're just dropping in to say hi. Thank you.**


	2. The Dreamer's Awakening

Basil-Hawkins: OC's are cool, but it's kind of hard to get people to appreciate them, especially since only the writer knows the OC best. Thanks for giving True Dreaming a shot. ^^ That's all I really want to know. Thanks for reviewing too!

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**Chapter One**

**The Dreamer's Awakening**

--

…_and every night it starts again. I can't make it stop- not even milk or music helps. It seems real bad- I'm really not getting any sleep at all! But despite that, there are some fun parts, although the next morning I wake up feeling worse than shit. _

_Last night I dreamed about an island of bubbles. It was amazing actually. The bubbles flowed from the ground itself. I almost got caught up in one. I overheard the crew saying something about the archipelago's mangrove trees having some special sort of sap that makes these bubbles. It was so… beautiful. Like I could just be lifted away by them and taken far, far away. Nothing from reality can match this._

_The archipelago also has a giant amusement park- filled with bubble based rides. I wish I could have gone. Well, the crew is staying for as long as it takes for their ship to be coated, whatever that means. Maybe I can leave them for a little and visit the park. It seems like a whole load of fun- finally something interesting at last…those pirates never do anything interesting on the ship but I'm frightened what they'll attempt whenever they step on dry land. This particular crew is like a horde of demons…and everyone that crosses paths with them, die._

Scrawling a hasty signature at the bottom of the entry and quickly scratching the dates at the bottom of the page, Demetra fanned the diary twice before closing the leather-bound book and tossing it in a pile of old clothing.

Kyle had brought up food again. The plate lay on the dresser, half-eaten like before. At least she was eating again, it was a start. Part of this was influenced by the fact that she was using double energy now. Her dream world took an equal toll on her as did her real world.

Now she lay in bed, going over the previous events in her dream world. It was best if she understood what was going on and maybe she would be able to find a method in ending her nightly spiriting away. One life already piled enough shit on her. She didn't need another one contributing to that still growing pile.

And now, as the familiar tug of weariness consumed her senses, Demetra knew it was time for it to begin again.

--

It _was_ amazing. Demetra didn't think she'd ever laughed so hard in her life. The bubbles swooped up, around, back down again. Indeed. The Ferris wheel was amazing, as well as one of the most amazing things that had ever happened to her life. The bubble was wobbling precariously but Demetra held faith that it would hold. Sabaody Park was _huge_! There was no way in hell she would end her nightly trips when _this _was here!

When the ride was over, she flitted through the crowds, not even bothering to check who she ran through- what did it matter anyway? It wasn't as if they could feel or see her. All that mattered was the tingling bubbles that bounced around inside her stomach and the fluttering sensation of freedom lifting her chest. She almost wished the crew would stay on Sabaody a little while longer, it was such a paradise!

She tried everything. The merry-go-round, the water rides, the roller coaster, everything. Bubbles glided amazingly fast when given the gravitational incentive of going down instead of up. Physically, it never added up, but Demetra didn't question the laws of gravity in this world. After all, it was her dream world, things would definitely be screwy.

By the dream world's mid-afternoon, she had run out of new things to try. Instead, she 'borrowed' a bon chari vehicle without the owner's notice and simply let it drift along, in case someone noticed the driver-less vehicle. It was just as well too, given the fact she didn't think she had enough energy left to do any pedaling.

A flash of color caught her eye and Demetra smirked, bemused as she wondered which one had caught her attention first- the fiery red signpost that was Eustass Kidd, or the blue mask of Killer's sticking out like a sore thumb. No matter, they were equally ridiculous looking and there was nothing she could do about it, other than stare, a privilege she had to herself without being killed for looking insulting.

Gradually, the two were accompanied by the other two upper tier members as well as two lower tier members as they wove their way through town. One building caught the captain's eye and into the bar they went. It really wasn't surprising at all, Demetra thought, quashing her urge to shout profanities. These pirates were so boring! If it wasn't sailing, it was drinking, and if it wasn't drinking, it was killing.

"Oi, Kidd." Killer suddenly stated, halting in the doorway. Kidd tilted his head back to look at his first mate. "I'm not sticking around for this. Have fun, and do try not to get into trouble."

"Heh," The captain of the Kidd Pirates snorted, but acquiesced with a slight nod. "Don't worry mom. I'll _try_." He chuckled lowly, paying no further attention to his first mate.

Killer gave a stiff nod before turning on his heel and leaving through the still-swinging doors.

The bar was actually incredibly silent as well as dark. The lights were poorly fashioned and several of the bulbs were already dead. But none of that deterred the rabble that gathered here. Here was one of the moments she thanked God for her intangibility in this dream world. Waiters tiptoed their way through her and she didn't bother going around tables, rather going right through them.

The Kidd Pirates found themselves a round table against the wall and settled in away from the crowd. Demetra, too, resigned herself for a disastrous stay. This time, the only sober member of the crew wasn't present, so Demetra stiffly allowed herself to occupy the empty space next to Kidd. This silence was bound not to last, however, so Demetra relished in the moments when she finally had peace and quiet to herself. Then the unsurprisingly expected chaos began.

To be honest, she had to applaud Kidd's endurance. He was already halfway through his drink- contrary to last time when he had barely begun- when he finally found something to vent his touchiness on.

The weird man sat crowded by his own crew and even she had to admit if he were staring at her, she would have been somewhat unnerved as well. And for that matter, the stranger's gaze was slowly scanning each of the Kidd Pirate's faces. To her surprise, after he gazed at the captain, his eyes swiveled on and landed on the space where she was occupying.

Demetra shrunk back as if she had been burned- the strange man's gaze _was_ unnerving. She feverently prayed that there was something interesting on the wall he was looking at, instead of the improbability that he was able to see her.

"Who's that?" Kidd finally asked, swallowing the last of his beer and tilting his head towards the stranger.

The zombie man looked over at who Kidd was glaring daggers at and snorted to himself. "That's the 'Roar of the Sea' Scratchman Apoo." He stated, knowing where his captain was about to go with this.

A weird name to fit a weird guy then, Demetra concluded as she left the table, knowing that Kidd wasn't far behind. Apoo was dressed completely in eye-raping pink colors, and even stranger than that were his arms. Demetra stared, fascinated as one of those double-jointed wonders came up. Then the finger curled and suddenly, the mocking look on the pirate's face was made clear. The challenge hung in the air for several seconds and the air was so tense, she doubted a knife could even pass through it.

Without warning, Kidd lunged right through her, startling Demetra as the redhead threw himself through her form with a slightly homicidal grin on his face. There was a shout from the Kidd Pirates, someone pleading with the captain to stop, but that didn't stop Kidd from his endeavor. The other (no doubt a captain as well, given his title) swung up both arms in hasty defense and the next thing Demetra knew, Kidd had done something and the wall behind Apoo blew up and the oddly dressed captain was sent hurtling from the gap by the sheer force of Kidd's offensive.

Smoke filled the room, blurring anyone's view but there was no doubt in everybody's mind what was about to happen.

"Stop! Boss, we can't fight in this place!" One of the lower tier members called out unhelpfully, to no avail.

But his words seemed to have a small effect, as Kidd paused, calmly recomposing himself, before reaching for his knife strapped to his bandolier. After two long strides, he emerged on the other side of the thin brick wall, watching and waiting like a predator hunting its prey. Reminding herself that the pirates couldn't cause a scene on this particular island for some obscure reason, Demetra phased through the wall and waited for the dust to clear.

"What? A fight?"

"What's going on?" Another civilian cried out.

She snorted derisively. "A fight, obviously." Demetra grumbled to herself, at the stupidity of some people. "That or a chemistry accident. Take your pick." Then her ears perked up as Apoo began to speak.

"If it's a fight you want, you should wait until we get to the other side." He stated, arms up in a strange defensive position that resembled, oddly enough, a DJ's stance. Demetra had been to enough concerts to tell.

Demetra swore there was some sort of purple electricity crackling and jumping off Kidd's fingers. Then she shook her head. These people were not the kind of people in her world. If a man were capable of simply blowing out a wall with his mere presence, then there was nothing impossible about lightning jumping off his fingertips.

"If that's so, then stop staring at me." Kidd snarled, while still keeping on his impressively dangerous look. "You disgusting bastard… fine. I can wait a little longer…" He let the threat hang in the air a while longer, before gesturing to the rest of the crew, that was now gathered behind their captain, at the gaping hole in the wall. "Let's go, men. The alcohol was pretty weak anyways." He sneered, turning away.

The rest of his crew followed obediently after their captain as he blatantly dismissed the other captain, who merely stood aside, watching the procession solemnly. Then his eyes fell to her once more and Demetra stiffened, but other than that, he gave no other indication he had seen her, and walked right through her. Once he was in the building again, she gave up on her unknowingly held breath.

"Good… good god. How the hell do these poor people live?" Demetra muttered, shooting a pitiful glance at petrified bystanders, who, even now, were too frightened to flee for their lives.

The raven-haired girl turned, shaking her head regretfully, but before she could take a step, the world started to blur as the shrill cry of her alarm started to ring across the sky. Demetra sighed again- it was time to face the music of reality.

--

But when she woke up, Demetra found herself sitting up and scowling blearily at 7:00 in the morning on a goddamned Saturday. Why had she forgotten to shut off her alarm the night before? With a wordless snarl, her hand slammed down on the off button and she rolled over and shut her eyes determinedly again.

With another world at her disposal, why would she spend another Saturday doing nothing? Fuck reality, fantasy was so much more entertaining.

--

The major downside was that whenever she 'woke up' in her fantasy world, Demetra always found herself back on the Kidd Pirate's ship without fail. Hence- she was separated from the crew. Again.

Well, it mattered little to her what they were doing. Probably looking for more unfortunate fools to kill or intimidate. Demetra ignored the fact that she was practically see-through at the moment. It only really happened if her attachment to her fantasy world wasn't powerful enough, normally, at the beginning of her dreams. Gradually, the deeper she slept, the more solid looking she would become, albeit, still intangible.

But somehow, fate always had it in for her. Maybe she had recently offended a God and now she was paying for it. Well, maybe not, since this was Eustass Kidd she was talking about and his mere presence was intimidating. This explained why she was able to pick him out so easily as he and his crew waltzed through the streets like they owned it. The moment she hit Main Street on the first grove, she saw the bonfire that was practically screaming 'I'm right here, bastards, come and get me if you're brave enough'. Civilians and even the lesser nobles that frequented the place for slaves almost wetted themselves scurrying out of the temperamental captain's way.

"Somehow it always comes back to you two, doesn't it?" She said aloud, as she fell into line behind them, not expecting a response at all. "I always get stuck with the arrogant guys, don't I? Maybe I should start carrying a pin around so I can help all of you people deflate your heads a bit."

Suddenly, Killer did something extremely uncharacteristic. He stumbled, almost falling over, but he wasn't the first mate for nothing and managed to catch himself before he actually did any falling. "What the hell?" He looked around for a moment before turning to his bemused captain, who seemed to be trying extremely hard not to laugh. "Hear anything?"

"Aside from you falling over your own fat feet, no." Kidd snickered quietly. "Why?"

Killer stared- or at least, was probably staring- at his captain for several long seconds before looking away. "Nothing." He replied finally, still scrutinizing Kidd for any traces of a lie.

'_What the hell, indeed.' _Demetra thought to herself. He couldn't hear her. Nobody could. "Guess the pins could really help." She said to herself, yet loud enough for Killer to possibly hear, if he could. "Poor guys, their head's are so big that it just completely throws them off balance…" Killer's fingers twitched towards his blades and Demetra noticed through narrowed eyes. "Oh dude- can you really hear me?" She asked aloud rather stupidly.

All it took was for Killer to attach one of the arm blades and she had her confirmation. If this were the case, perhaps then, that strange pirate captain in pink… Apoo, had indeed seen her.

"Are you certain, you don't hear anything?" Killer asked slowly, dangerously, much like a bristling animal.

"I think, if I did, and if it has you reacting this way, someone would be dead, wouldn't they?" Kidd responded silkily. "No, I don't bloody hear anything, Killer."

"Good grief." The raven-haired girl muttered to herself, hoping that Killer didn't possess super hearing. "I'm going to have to start watching myself. I think he can hear me." Killer twitched again but ignored her completely, opting instead, to shoot as many glares as possible at the cowering civilians around them.

Deciding that it was no longer safe to observe them in close quarters, Demetra allowed herself to fall back slightly until she was a respectful earshot away from them. "Damnit. Why is this happening now? How come one guy can hear me and the other's can't? And did that freaky double elbow guy really see me?"

Gradually, she pushed her concerns to the back of her head and snuck closer to Killer and reached out to try tapping his shoulder. She didn't exactly know what was driving her curiosity, but her finger hovered hesitatingly over her target. Then she lowered the digit and held her breath.

Without a sound, the appendage phased right through the Massacre Soldier's shoulder without even catching his attention. In fact, he was still glaring at the civilians, as if he were trying to figure out which one could possibly be a ventriloquist. Demetra heaved a sigh of relief- who knew what would have happened if she had suddenly become tangible in this world.

"Killer." Kidd's amused voice broke her out of her reverie. "Stop glaring at them, you're the one who told me not to draw attention or cause trouble."

Killer, too, shook himself from whatever he had been pondering and gave his captain an amused glare in return. "I'm not the one who does both simply by being myself." He pointed out smugly.

"Hah, it takes a special brand of effort to do that, one you're just not good enough for."

"Oh? And I suppose you deserve that… effort?"

He almost seemed to swell before her very eyes. "I _am_ that effort."

"But we're trying to discourage that, aren't we?" Demetra muttered, forgetting that she was practically behind Killer, who jumped, literally.

"Tell me you heard that?" Killer asked, almost strangely pleadingly while looking around frantically for the source of the voice. "Come on, this isn't really funny at all."

"You just don't want to admit defeat." Kidd waved a hand carelessly as he tossed Killer another smirk. "Don't worry, I understand."

The masked man gave an inaudible growl and peered over his shoulder, eyeing the horned man and the zombie warily. "That's not it, but if that's what you want to believe, if it makes you feel better about yourself, go right ahead."

The captain snorted, clearly unbelieving, but didn't bother resuming their brotherly argument as their destination loomed overhead. Demetra too, lost all interest in continuing her investigation and stared at the place they were headed to with a slight look of disbelief in her eyes.

"Human Shop." She read aloud, forgetting that Killer could hear her. Then she exploded in a mass of fury and rage. "HUMAN SHOP??? What the hell is that supposed to mean??? A fucking shop that sells HUMANS??? Are you fucking telling me this world supports SLAVERY? You lot of barbaric bastards, I can't believe you'd actually set foot in there, why don't you just pin yourself some badges showing off what asses you lot are!" Almost immediately though, her rage simmered down to mere embers when she realized what she had just done and who she had did it next to.

Killer had really fallen over this time, surprised by the sudden shouting erupting from behind his back which sounded nothing like any of his crewmates. Nevertheless, he whirled around at last, glaring openly at the other crewmembers accusingly. "Alright, which one of you is trying to drive me nutters?" He demanded hotly as the others looked at each other curiously.

One of the lesser crewmates tried talking carefully. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean!!!" The masked man snarled, batting all voices of concern aside. "Who the fuck was yelling in my ear just now!"

The zombie shook his head and gave Kidd a pointed look that asked if he had heard anything. The captain seemed equally as bewildered. "Killer, no one said- much less, yelled, anything. You okay?"

"I'm fine." Killer's voice was low and dangerous now. "But I don't buy that shit."

'_Oops,' _Demetra thought, shut up, and quickly skidded off to the side behind Kidd. She might have disliked the crew and their unjustified actions, but being the source of someone else's insanity didn't appeal to her tastes in the least bit slightest. _'Human.'_ She thought again, gazing at the sign, not realizing Kidd had stopped to confront Killer and his mysterious voices. _'What the hell is that supposed to mean?'_ Demetra wondered , the argument in the background only escalated further.

"Fuck, Killer, listen to me! No one heard anything!"

"She was right behind me! I fucking heard her! Loud and clear! She was even insulting us! You gone deaf or something, Kidd??? Why the hell can't you hear anything?"

"I don't know, maybe because you're always harping in my ear- oof!" Kidd, too, whirled around angrily. "What the fuck?"

It took her several seconds to reorient herself and blink the stars from her blurry vision. Too busy with her thoughts on what a Human Shop could possibly be- short of slavery, Demetra had suddenly slammed into a very fuzzy coat and a fairly hard body behind it and nearly collapsed from the force of the collision. Then she dared herself to look up and almost whimpered as the devil himself seemed rear his head through this man.

'…_What… the hell. Who in all the layers of heaven did I piss off?'_

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Once more, I really appreciate it if you gave my story a chance. ^^ It really means alot to me.

-Kagetaka


	3. The Dreamer's Discovery

SuddenEclipse: Thanks! I can say Killer will happily try to live up to his name. But I can't kill off Demetra now, can I?

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**Chapter Two**

**The Dreamer's Discovery**

Nobody moved. Even the other two Kidd Pirates didn't twitch, but they were shooting both captain and first mate strange looks. Killer had stopped ranting and both hands were already grasping at where he had stowed his blades away. For Demetra, the situation had suddenly plummeted straight to hell, and she remained frozen in place, fear taking hold of her limbs and not letting them go. She didn't even dare to breathe as she stared Eustass Kidd straight in the eye and held his gaze as strongly as she could. His expression was puzzled, but also held a tint of anger- she reckoned he didn't take to being jostled too well.

It only took her a minute or two of nerve-wracking staring when Demetra finally realized her invisibility hadn't worn off and he couldn't see her, only vaguely guess where she was, Demetra realized, relief flooding her senses and loosening fear's hold. But it didn't take much before all that fear came rushing back. Killer had reattached his two arm blades and they were mere inches away from tearing out her spleen. And a strange predator-like glint she didn't particularly enjoy had crept its way into Kidd's eyes.

"Did you hear her, Kidd?" Killer asked quietly as he strained to hear their mysterious and uninvited guest.

The red-haired captain was still staring at the empty space she occupied and she knew backing away was out of the option now. "Better yet-"That familiar sadistic smirk spread across his face. He knew exactly where this mystery stalker that had been haunting Killer was now and there was only the sound of a single snap of cloth before one of his hands clamped down on Demetra's slender throat with such force that she lost her breath completely. "I feel her." His fingers began to tighten and instinctively, Demetra snatched futilely at his hand, trying to fight him off her, but her struggle only brought a wider grin to his face as her fingertips scrabbled against his hands. "Aha. We have our invisible stalker. Not so funny to follow us around anymore, ne?"

"Wait. Kidd. Let me do this one." Killer stated, one of his blades already rotating like a buzz saw. "Little bitch almost made me believe I was losing it." He stated, more angry than eager.

After a short pause, he loosened his fingers but kept them firmly in place so that their mystery person couldn't escape. Invisible hands were still trying to work off his death grip to absolutely no avail. Kidd smirked knowingly and extended his capture out to Killer. "Fine. Just don't cut me while you're at it."

As the whirling blade approached, her mind went blank and all morals and ethics simply departed from her head. Demetra did the first thing a girl caught up in a mishap with the opposite gender could think of. She kicked Kidd hard. Where it was bound to hurt. A lot.

He couldn't see it coming from the invisible girl he held but it didn't mean he shouldn't have predicted it. The invisible hands suddenly ceased in their fevered struggling and the girl fell still. The next thing he knew was glorious pain- the bitch could kick alright. Grunting in pain, he almost lost his grip on her but 'almost' was enough for the clever girl to wriggle out from between his fingers and vanish. Groaning in pain, Kidd cursed his own inattentiveness, and for his cocky belief that the strange stalker he had snagged was apparently helpless. Oh, perhaps she was helpless, but certainly not above low blows, apparently. Whoever they were dealing with obviously had a neatly-scrawled will written out for her posterity because when he caught up to her, he would ensure that she got the most painful and slowest death he'd ever given anyone.

Fuck what Killer wanted, he was going to run the bitch through with every piece of metal he could summon and hit everything except the vital spots. But before either he or Killer could move in for the kill, Demetra was flying across and down the street, cursing her apparent stupidity for ever taking advantage of her non-existence in her dream world.

"Nice try- but even if I can't see you, I can still track you!"

Shocked at the proximity of his voice, Demetra shrieked as she snuck a glance over her shoulder while she tore through the streets. Killer had caught up with her effortlessly, in perhaps, two or three leaps. And his enraged captain wasn't far behind. Once more, she could spot the tell-tale signs that Kidd was doing something with his hands- they were sparking light purple electricity that seemed to promise pain.

'_What the hell ARE these people??? Monsters? Electric fingers, blowing out walls without doing anything, super speed- what sort of crazy dream world am I making up here???' _

Without warning, her feet twisted beneath her and her stomach did their usual ungraceful flip-flops in response to her over-exertion. Ungracefully, she went skidding to the ground. For several mindless seconds, Demetra could only imagine her brother's reaction when he found her body in the morning. Paralyzed with exhaustion and fear, she lay crumpled on the ground as the reaper got closer and closer. Breath after nervous breath escape her throat, rattling furiously, and Demetra cursed her traitorous body for giving her away.

This wasn't how she wanted her spiriting away to end. Hell, it wasn't even happening the way she'd imagined it to go! But the skid marks, the scream, and the dust she'd inadvertently kicked up, everything made it too obvious as to where she was, even if her to-be murderers couldn't see her.

Sunlight struck the edge of the rotating blade and without any further ceremony, Killer had caught up to her and swung down at her head, anticipating any scream or sounds commonly associated with a victim getting decapitated, or bleeding their life out upon the ground.

But sadly for him, the recipient of the blade's blood lusting edge had been stolen away before anyone could realize it and currently lay a whole world apart on her bed swallowing lungfuls of air as if each breath was her last, grappling the sheets in blind desperation and fear.

'_I-I… I a-almost…'_

--

A day or two later, as the sun rose again in her little holed up room, Demetra rubbed her bloodshot eyes and grimaced as the familiar knock sounded upon the door.

A part of her had no desire to open the door and reveal to the world how much further she had fallen. Her complexion could have previously been explain as pale and gaunt, but now, seeing herself in a mirror only made her recoil in disgust. Her skin was pasty at best and the dark circles beneath her eyes had only intensified. Yesterday she had no longer even bothered heading down to dinner, she would simply be sent right back up with the order to get rid of the 'makeup'.

"Deme, open up! Breakfast!" Kyle sing-songed cheerfully from the other side.

Letting out a carefully held sigh, Demetra sank off the bed and fiddled with the knob several times before undoing the lock and letting the door swing open on its own. "Hey Ky." She greeted solemnly, returning to sit on her bed. "Come on in."

"You've been eating at least." Her brother said suddenly, as he watched her from the doorway. A grim smile was plastered on his face while his voice remained cheerful. "I shouldn't have to say that though. People are supposed to eat."

But she responded with nothing less than a genuine smile, albeit weakly. "Yeah, yeah. I get that now. I've been trying to work up an appetite."

"I daresay." Kyle responded almost too nonchalantly as he stepped into the room and yanked out her desk chair. "You're still not sleeping well, I take it?"

"What are you, my personal physician?" Demetra joked, dismissing his concerns with a wave of her hand. "Nah, this isn't something food or even comfortable sheets can help with."

"I know." He suddenly blurted, then had the sense to look abashed when she pierced him with a questioning look. "I saw your diary." The dark-haired boy clarified quietly.

Why that no good little sneak! Robotically, Demetra rose from bed slowly with barely repressed fury dancing beneath her skin as her eyes narrowed dangerously. Bringing her food and being brotherly was one thing but poking around in her privacy elevated to a whole new level of intrusion. "When?" She whispered harshly, her face whitening from rage. At least he had the decency to look ashamed!

Still not meeting her eyes, Kyle muttered, "A day or two ago. You left it open on the desk when I came to get your plates." He shifted uncomfortably in his chair before dropping his gaze guiltily. "I thought I'd understand why you weren't eating even though you've stopped seeing your friends."

Closing her eyes, Demetra sank back against her bed as her rage drained from her body. Not now. She couldn't work up the emotions to get mad at her brother who had merely committed his crime out of a thirst to aid in his sister's recovery. "And… what did you think of what you saw? Do you think I should be committed?"

Kyle gave a shaky laugh as if he were unsure of something and quickly ran a hand through his messy black hair, letting it fall over his eyes. "To the fantasy world?"

"No- to the asylum."

"Of course not!" He exploded and she recoiled from his sudden fervor. "I believe it!"

The raven-haired girl appeared stunned, but quickly recomposed herself and asked, "Do you really now?" She murmured quietly, almost regretfully. "Then my most recent entry should tell you that none of this is a game." With a final weary glance at Kyle, she rolled over on her side. "Go 'head."

Tentatively, the younger boy reached out for the old diary, flipping through its pages with graceful fingers until he reached the most recent entry and began reading…

--

_I don't want to go back. I underestimated my 'capabilities' in my dream world. I'm not as invisible as I thought myself to be. _

_The people I must travel with are cold-blooded murderers! They were willing to murder me simply for having scared them. It wasn't as if I was even trying to be malicious about it, but Killer wanted to kill me just for almost making him believe he was going crazy._

_Well, I understand how that could be frustrating, but there's a limit to retribution and killing does not equal 'almost crazy'. _

_But, getting to the point. I know it's unhealthy for me and especially since my body's still trying to build itself back up to normal, but I need to avoid my other world. Obviously I can't go there if I don't fall asleep. Putting it bluntly, I will…_

_--_

"Tell me…" Kyle looked up, and Demetra was surprised at the anger in his eyes as well as the venom dripping from every word he spoke. "You're planning on adding insomnia to the list of problems you've got? Are you suicidal or just plain stupid?"

"A little of both, I think."

Without warning, the diary sailed over her head, crashed against the wall and fell spread to the ground with a silent thump. "Deme! You're killing yourself like this!"

"Sleep deprivation is a bit different from willingly starving myself, I think!" She retorted back defensively. "Ky! I almost got KILLED! Those guys, I don't know why I thought my dream world could be so fun, but I was clearly wrong. That night taught me that. I can be seen. I can be felt. I can be heard. And most definitely, I can be killed. I- I don't want to test what else I can do in that world anymore!"

"This happens… every time you go to sleep?" Kyle tapped his chin thoughtfully, having seemingly calmed down while she had been ranting.

"Yeah. It's been going on-"

"For a month, I know." He stated bemusedly. "So, does your… physical body do anything while you're in this… fantasy world?"

The momentary hesitation was not lost on Demetra. "Forget it. You don't believe me after all." She snarled, rolling over again. How damn hard was it to get comfortable?

"No- I…" Kyle ran a hand through his hair. "Alright. It's difficult to understand. And I-"

Something in his voice made her look up suspiciously. There was much more than what he was saying and he wouldn't tell her squat unless she demanded it. "Bluntly, Kyle. Tell me what you think."

Her brother looked absolutely torn between insisting that he believed her and telling her off. Finally, he gave a jerky nod and said in a little voice, "I guarantee you'll not like it."

"Bluntly and truthfully!" She insisted again, stronger than before.

"I-I think you're making up crap excuses for your goddamned, so-called, miserable, low-life, scum eating _friends_ still... I don't know what sort of street junk you've got hidden away in your room, but whatever you're on, you'd better get off of it before mum finds out!" He spat out in one tremendous breath, eyes scrunched up. He didn't want to see what his sister looked like when entirely provoked. Why the hell had he chosen such harsh words? … But she had asked for it, hadn't she? To his 15-year old mind, there was simply no other explanation for the diary but what he knew.

Silence filled the gaps and he twitched, unwilling to reopen his eyes and greet the savage nymph his sister was. On the other hand, Demetra was satisfied with merely looking her brother up and down before nodding sagely. "Oh. Okay."

His eyes shot open in surprise. "'Oh, okay???' Is that… all?"

Demetra looked strangely calm despite the fact he had just called her a liar to her face. "Yeah."

'_I'm sorry Ky. You think you know everything when it comes to me, but truth is, you're still a naïve kid. You don't know what life is really like yet. People resort to the worst when they can't figure it out. It'd be best if you believe the nonsense you're spouting off. This isn't something you can help me with. It's something I'll fix myself. Save yourself.' _

He looked at her face carefully and sighed when all he was met with was her blank composed gaze. He knew when his sister closed up and this was one of those times.

"Right." Kyle finally muttered shortly, turning away in shame. "Breakfast's on your writing desk, see ya later." He quickly excused himself, fleeing out of the door.

His final words as the door slammed shut, however, knocked the breath from Demetra almost as well as Kidd had.

"_I-I don't know what to do with you anymore, Demetra. I'm sorry, I tried."_

By the way, I may need a beta who is readily available for the next month or two. It's summer, I'm college-bound, I've nothing to do but write. I'll try to update every one-two or so days but occasionally I might need a good kick in the pants to get me going.

Thanks for reading, please drop a review if you wish.

-Kagetaka

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	4. The Dreamer's Mistake

Dancing Nightmare: Thanks for reviewing! . I do my best to make it a worn out trend a novelty. It seems to be working. I fear that I'm always like that... alot of description in my stories, I have to wonder if people get tired of me using so many adjectives! Anywho, thanks for reviewing yet again, it's very much appreciated!

SuddenEclipse: Even though Kidd is my favorite character, I just can't let him take a break now, can I? I must be some sort of... sadist... beneath it all. Hahaha. Time does pass differently between worlds (naughty me, that wasn't supposed to be revealed until Chapter Four). Thank you for reviewing agai!n ^^

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**Chapter Three**

**The Dreamer's Mistake**

Closing his eyes brought no comfort that there was the slightest chance that he and his crew were being tailed by a marine spy or perhaps some over-zealous bounty hunter who apparently selectively 'affected' the five senses differently for different people. Furthermore he was still… hurting, if his awkward stance indicated anything. Several of his inner-circle shot him piteous looks every now and then.

They'd tried looking, well, rather, hearing for her again but she had either managed to flee the vicinity or had suddenly regained her brain and stayed silent.

For whatever the reason, Killer had been unable to slice the girl even though it was clear she had tripped and fallen- completely weaponless and immobile. Whereas, on the other hand, without even trying, he had been able to touch her, grab her, and even strangle her. Yet, when Killer had claimed the girl had been shouting at the top of her lungs in his ear, they had heard nothing. And none of them had seen her or even gotten a glimpse of her identity, which left them nothing more than a street of concerned and fleeing civilians who had no desire to stick around when the clearly insane pirates chose to turn on them instead.

"Apapapapa! That was certainly entertaining!" A familiar voice sounded from the rooftops. Too familiar and too soon.

Kidd's eyes snapped open as he scanned the line of buildings and found his target. Scratchman Apoo stood far above their heads, his arms folded across his chest as well as anyone with two elbows could. "You again." He snarled, reaching for his dagger. "Was this… your doing?" Either way, whether or not the girl had been a member of the On-Air Pirates, he was going to enjoy tearing the strange captain before him into pieces, limb from limb.

Unaware of his fellow Supernova's already boiling temper, Apoo continued his laughter. "Oh? Then she wasn't apart of your crew?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" At least the other man was talking freely without _persuasions_. Deciding that he could afford spending several seconds getting the information he wanted, Kidd took his hand off the offending dagger and settled for merely glaring.

Flanked by his own crew, Apoo remained undaunted, going so far as to casually lean against the building's railing. "You mean to say you had no idea she was right next to you at the bar? Apapapapa!"

Next to Kidd, Killer stiffened uncomfortably as the other Supernova unveiled this piece of information. "What?" He hissed, hoping he had misheard.

Once more, he squashed down his temper and pride for a few more seconds. After he had what he wanted to hear, this bastard would suffer. "No." Kidd managed out, almost choking on his rage. This unsightly freak had chosen a very, very bad time to play games with him. "You… can see her?"

"Humili~ating. Such a short little skinny thing in pajamas of all things. Still, she managed to knock you down a couple pegs… or shall I say, _kicked_?" He replied carelessly, and that was all Kidd needed to hear as the magnetic fields around him went insane, fueled by his anger. All metal within seven yards of Kidd started quivering violently.

Even before Apoo had seen danger coming, he'd sensed it and began bounding across the rooftops laughing in that strange high-pitched laughter of his, which pissed Kidd off to no ends. "Apapapa! Someone's short tempered around here! Where's that _marvelous_ control you showed back at the bar?" The Roar of the Sea called back over his shoulder.

Before Kidd could start pulling every piece of metal within the radius to him, Killer intervened, stepping into his way and diverting his attention. "He's right." The masked man confirmed quietly. "We can't cause a scene here. Even if I want to tear out his guts myself."

"Fuck that. I want his blood. Now. He's nothing but a walking corpse!" But Apoo hadn't stuck around to see if Killer had successfully calmed his captain or not. From the corner of his eye, Kidd saw the little figure in pink disappear by leaping from the buildings into another street and out of range. "Damnit! Killer!" He snarled, rounding on the closest person.

"Not quite, unfortunately." Unfazed by the fact he had just averted his captain's rage to his own person, Killer shook his head calmly. "The last thing we need on this archipelago is attention. And if we keep playing into his hands, the marines are going to be focused on us. Which will give _him_ the advantage over us." He drawled.

"And there's already an unreasonable number of them on this island." Another crewmate added quietly, uncertain if he ought to butt in between the two strongest men on the crew.

"Damnit!" He hissed again, but now, with the object of his rage gone and the logic in Killer's words, there wasn't much else he could do to abate his frustrations. "Fine! Let's go, before someone else's stupidity causes me to do something everyone will regret…" Kidd muttered scathingly, but everyone else got the message loud and clear as he turned on the heel of his boot and stalked off. Now was not a good time to cross their captain.

As they recomposed themselves, more for the benefit of the poor civilians cowering in their homes and quaking in their shoes, Kidd made a private commitment to himself that the next time he and that pink musical freak met, he would insure that the other captain would be decked out in the splendid red of his blood instead. No doubt it would make him at least bearable in his presence. And as an added bonus, he wouldn't have to stand that obnoxious laughter any further.

"I think we've all had enough for the day, Kidd. It's almost six already, I think we can head back to the inn." The masked man suggested carefully, brushing away stray hair caused by his eagerness to draw blood.

Giving his first mate a dubious look, Kidd nodded his ascent anyways and the crew turned away from the human shop.

Killer had been speaking more for himself than the others and he knew some of them realized this but said nothing, whether out of respect or out of fear as to what Killer would have done to them had they revealed his real intentions.

Among the crew, it was an unchallenged claim that he possessed the sharpest senses, able to detect ill-intent as if it were a physical thing, placing his, a whole new level above Kidd's. This afternoon had unveiled the biggest blunder he'd ever made- he'd very nearly failed to protect his captain. He had let their uninvited guest practically share the same table with the crew, and even sit next to Kidd. What if she had done something to their drinks while he had been out wandering just because he had no desire to watch the drunken side of his crewmates rear its head?

"Don't blame yourself Killer. Even if Master Kidd has the highest bounty in this place doesn't mean we're the best yet." The zombie-like man said quietly, only loud enough for Killer to pick up, then wisely shut up when Killer tilted his head warningly.

All the more reason to leave Sabaody when the opportunity arose. Kidd was powerful and so was the crew he had pulled together, but even the most prideful pirates- short of the Yonkou and even several of the Shichibukai, knew that they stood no chance of survival whatsoever if a marine Admiral got it in his head to hunt them down.

Despite the sudden wave of morbidity that had washed over him, Killer felt some sort of sadistic glee when Kidd shot him a perturbed look as the masked man pulled a seat out at the bar and ordered a pint of the strongest ale they had.

Hell, he'd deserved it.

--

Now he knew why even the smallest drinking party lasted for hours on end. One pint, even though it had thoroughly scalded the back of his throat, hadn't been enough to abate his moodiness so he had foolishly ordered another. And another. It was a miracle he could still think straight to curse his own stupidity. Where had that cool-minded logical head gone?

"And that, is what you get for being a sober stuck-up all this time, and then turning around having the strongest stuff in the house." Kidd chided softly as he hauled his first mate up the steps to their rooms. The crew had followed Killer's example and was currently down below enjoying themselves over a round of drinks into the night. "What a moron."

The masked man groaned dishearteningly as he blinked his vision back into focus. Sadly, his body seemed to instantly disagree with his actions and his stomach gave a frightful twinge of anger. His discomfort must have been apparent, since Kidd instantly shifted Killer from himself and resorted to simply supporting him by a shoulder.

"Oh no you don't, you ain't retching that stuff all over me, Killer." He said, sounding only mildly disgusted and more amused at the prospect. "Now, are you going to explain to me what that little display was all about or can it wait another two days until we're off this island?"

"T-Two?" Killer choked out, barely remembering that he had, a mask, of all things, on his face. It had almost become a second face to him and he often found himself paying it no mind. He had no inclination to vomit- it would be more than unpleasant for the two of them. "Two days? Won't the ship be coated and dried by tomorrow?"

"Oh. So you're a logical sort of drunk? Never met one of those before. You're really something, Killer." Kidd mused, looking slightly put out that his first mate wasn't the raving sort of drunk. Blackmail was always fun. "But yeah. What about it?"

"Fuck, you said we'd be off the day the ship was coated!" He insisted, not really bothering to put anger into his words. His tongue wasn't cooperating enough for that and the pains in his stomach weren't letting up. Furthermore, he found himself extremely put out that he had to rely on his captain of all people to climb a simple set of stairs.

The red-haired captain remained completely unfazed as Killer almost stumbled on a step, since grace was something deeply entrenched in Killer's reflexes. "Does this _incident_ have anything to do with our invisible stalker?" Killer's breath hitched, indicating that he had hit the target right on.

For a moment, he thought Killer would try to deny it all and throw up some half-witted defense, but he was surprised. "Absolutely." The masked man finally managed out, as if the word itself had torn out his throat.

'_He really is drunk'_ Kidd mused to himself as Killer continued.

"Who's to say she wasn't a marine spy or something worse? And who knows how long she was tailing us! You heard the 'pink singing wonder' of the sea, she was practically _right next to you_ at the bar this afternoon!"

"Are you worried?"

"Damn straight I am." Killer hissed through his mask. He swore he could feel his stomach literally jarring up and down with each step. "Are we bloody there yet?"

Kidd rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. The times when Killer was truly angry were very few, far and in between, but an annoyed Killer was almost worse. "Almost, almost. You whine more than a pregnant bitch." He said, ducking a half-hearted swat.

"I do not!" Came the reflexive and terse reply. "God…goddamnit. Do I need to pull all the reasons out of my hat again? Tenryuubito, marine headquarters, admirals, no fucking fighting…" He rattled off the top of his pounding head.

Shaking his head, Kidd pulled Killer onto the last step and turned the corner and turned the knob to their shared room. "I'd sleep that one off and take a cold shower in the morning. You're gonna feel like shit tomorrow." He stated nonchalantly, throwing Killer none too gently onto his bed. "Mask off. If you vomit in it, I guarantee I won't be letting you on the ship with that on for a long time."

He hissed as his stomach lurched dramatically and glared up at his amused captain. "Sick bastard. You didn't have to throw me like that! I feel like shit now! And you're avoiding the point here." Killer grunted, reaching up to paw at his mask. After several painstaking moments, his fingers found the edge and gingerly tugged the blue and white covering off and took a breath of cold air. "I… I couldn't sense her at all Kidd. Even when she fell, I could see the skid marks and everything but I couldn't _feel_ anyone there."

Great. Now Killer was in one of _those_ moods. Maybe it was just the drink talking but Kidd really didn't feel like listening tonight. "Sleep it off." He repeated firmly, scowling when Killer gave him a glare, which was actually effective now that the Massacre Man no longer sported his apathetic mask. "I said _sleep_. Captain's orders."

He hadn't really expected an inebriated Killer to listen to his commands, but almost immediately, all the fight fled from Killer's eyes and the man slumped visibly into the covers and let his eyes fall close. "Captain's orders." He echoed tiredly, resigning from the fight.

--

"Pajamas. I'm always in my pajamas." Demetra mused aloud, unaware of the going-ons in her dream world. She could be felt, heard, and even possibly seen and she wouldn't be taking second chances. After wolfing down the majority of the dinner Kyle had brought up, Demetra was carefully plotting her next steps. "Even in my dream. Does that mean if I have something on me when I sleep, I can bring it with me? Or is it because it's night and my brain tells me I'll be in my PJs and therefore extends into my dream? What if I brought a weapon with me?" Almost automatically she tossed the idea away. "Too dangerous. I might roll over in my sleep and stab or shoot myself…"

Well, she decided to test the concept of the idea anyways. Throwing open her closet door, Demetra rooted around a little before finding exactly what she wanted. Like a magician pulling a rabbit from his hat, Demetra withdrew a long, solid iron pole.

Somehow, no matter where she looked, she'd never fully release the souvenirs of the street life she had lived with her former friends. And then again, she didn't really know if she wanted to anyways, now that the double life she was living was equally, perhaps overwhelmingly dangerous. At the very least, the influence of her peers had not totally been negative.

They… hadn't really been a _gang_, per say, in that they had no intentions of actively terrorizing the city or innocents, or even drawing attention to themselves. But they had roamed the streets at night to do their business, and that meant crossing real gangs, and the kind of people who viewed the streets as their own as long as the moon hung overhead. She was grateful none of them had ever been seriously injured as they hung out under the orange hue of the streetlights. And she didn't think any of them had the demeanor to kill.

--

"_We're the rebellion." The boy who led them had said, quite distinctly as Demetra worked diligently on rubbing alcohol into his open wound, a nasty looking cut wound. The skin around it had become inflamed and blood had been still pouring down the front of his t-shirt, but he managed a quirky smile anyways. That night had been a particularly nasty one, as one of their clients had tried to back out of a deal, with the help of one of those gangs. "We act like them. We sell 'stuff', we deal under the table, and hell, we even fight like them. But we don't kill, we aren't vandals, and we don't go hunting for our fights. All we do is look out for each other. You get me, Demetra?"_

"_Yeah, I get it, Saber." Demetra had answered, carefully dabbing away the blood. At least she could stomach it- when it wasn't flying everywhere, that was. "But they don't. You need to remember that."_

"_I don't have to." He had responded jokingly, biting back a gasp when the alcohol moved in yet again. "You remind us all, 'nurse'. But enough of that, we all know you don't belong here anyways. You're too kind" _

"_Not really." Demetra wondered if the noxious fumes of rubbing alcohol had finally gotten to his head. "I do my fair share of thrashing myself." She admitted quietly. _

"_Only when they get too close to you and whoever you're working on. Face it; you're not the kind of person that really wants to get involved with actual fighting."_

"_Doesn't mean I don't belong in this group of ours!" She snapped angrily, putting a little more pressure than she'd intended on the sensitive wound. "I belong here as much as the rest of you do!" _

_Saber swore beneath his breath as he flinched back, causing his muddy blond hair to fall all over his face. "Jesus, calm down Demetra! I didn't mean it that way!"_

"_Then which way did you mean it?" Demetra snapped, slicking her shoulder-length hair back as it fell in the way._

_The leader looked up solemnly as Demetra tossed the pink swab over her shoulder and reached for the bandages. "You belong but this is the last place you should be. Same goes for me, same goes for Sylvia, same goes for James, same goes for everyone else. The pathetic thing is, we think we need each other." He paused, thinking over his last statement, then gazed up pleadingly through deep chocolate brown eyes. "Demetra, please. You've got the coolest head on your shoulders in our group. If you left, everyone else will…" Saber trailed off slowly, looking lost._

_She gaped at him openly because she knew what he wanted of her. And she didn't want to do it. "D-damnit! Why, Saber? Why don't you want us anymore?"_

"_Because we DON'T need each other! Look at us, we've taken to the streets, we've done our share of crimes with our dealings but who have we hurt? No one! The people who buy and sell our stuff hurt themselves and we know it and we can't do anything for them. We're too good for the streets, Demetra. We're all too good for each other and if you know it, the others will know it. Please…please Deme!"_

"_Fine then. If that's what you want the most." She replied quietly, finishing the final layer of bandaging and tying off the knot. "I'd never thought I'd actually say this about you, but, you're such a coward, Saber! I'm not the esteemed leader here that everyone's elected to crowd around. But fine. I quit your group. Is that what you want to hear? Fine! FINE! I quit! I QUIT I QUIT I QUIT!" She snarled, feeling as if she had just run a marathon._

_A gasp from behind her caught their attentions. The rest of the group, who had just rounded the corner, gaped at her with expressions of horror and disbelief. _

_Demetra felt like killing herself right then and there. Saber just looked at her sadly._

_--_

When one bothered to look at it closely, none of them had been that 'kind' of person. Demetra gave the pole an experimental twirl and caught it with one hand. Not too shabby, she grinned, swinging down on an imaginary opponent. No one in their group had been abused or maltreated. Neglected was a slight possibility, but not really a consideration. They had all come together with the hope of being themselves instead of what others wanted them to be. And Saber had taken that all away simply because he thought they could all handle their lives, just because they had taken on street life and escaped with their morals intact. Stupid. Stupidly blind, optimistic and purely Saber. It was like he had taken them all under his wing as a test to see if he could steer a group of ten disillusioned teenagers away from their presumed destiny.

Of all of them, Demetra had passed with flying colors, and she hated it. But now it felt like she was being tested again, this time, in a world where crime, hate, jealousy, the works, ran rampant in broad daylight.

Kyle was right. There was no running away from this. Sooner or later, she'd have to sleep and why not sooner than later? Once the entire thing blew over, she could return to her boring, street-deprived, friend-shunning life. Meanwhile, she would milk this opportunity for some sort of adventure, for as long as she could.

Grimly, Demetra tossed her pajamas over her shoulder and didn't check to see if they had landed in the clothes basket properly or not. Pulling on a pair of jeans and a light t-shirt as well as her old leather jacket with the words 'Saber XI' sewn in with silver thread diagonally down the back, Demetra greeted her old reflection in the mirror. It was like she was about to throw open the windows and creep down the rooftop to rejoin her ten other friends, the Saber Eleven.

However, Demetra firmly grasped at the window's latches and slammed them shut with a lock. Tonight, all that awaited her was her bed, and a poor night's awakening on a pirate ship with at least two people out for her blood.

Before she let herself fall into pieces, Demetra double-checked her alarm clock for batteries and alarm. Funny how fate worked, the bane of all existence had become her first lifeline to reality.

* * *

I seem to have a problem with the ending break line all the time. They always end up below my final comments on the story. .

Oh well. I think it'll work out this time. Anyhow, please drop a comment and keep in mind I'm still looking for an active beta interested in spell-checking and the works. Thanks for reading!

-Kagetaka


	5. The Dreamer's Crime

Wolfsmond: And that's what happens when its summer and I've no job or summer assignments. Well, at least I can still make some people happy. Any how, I always stay one chapter ahead of what I post, just to give myself typing and thinking time. Mary-Sues are a bit of a bother for me- especially since the first fanfiction I read had a Mary Sue and sadly I took its example . But I was six then and people on a forum angrily set me straight. Hahaha. And indeed, I feel that many OC's are underapreciated so I do my best to make them feel like an actual character to readers. I hope it's working. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

xxdreamerzxx: Thanks for reviewing! Indeed, I haven't actually read an 'OC goes to One Piece world' involving a different pirate crew. And I'm well aware that little is known about the Supernovae still, but the challenge is fun. As for your question, Demetra is actually older than Kyle. He's 15, she's about 19.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**The Dreamer's Crime**

Her eyes snapped open the moment sea breeze smacked her in the face. Demetra immediately fisted her hand and was immensely relieved to find that her metal pole had survived the journey with her from reality to fantasy. Her fingers closed around the cool metal shaft as she clutched it closer to her body just in case. Closer examination brought her only further relief as she realized with a face-splitting grin that she was fully dressed and ready for her second life.

Demetra didn't bother glaring at the sky like she had always done before. Instead, she shot to her feet and gathered in her surroundings, namely, the crew. Surprisingly, only a couple of no-namers were wondering around on deck and the ship seemed, once again, completely devoid of life. Time obviously ran differently in this world then, Demetra concluded, and perhaps that was for the best. If Killer and Kidd could somehow detect her, it would be intensely more difficult trying to dodge them on their own ship than it was on an unfamiliar island. Peering off the side of the ship's deck only confirmed her suspicions, the Kidd Pirates were still docked at Sabaody Archipelago.

The sun shone a little off to the west, indicating that it was afternoon hours already. Unwilling to be caught off guard again, Demetra even tiptoed her way down the plank and past the Mohawk guard standing watch. He gave no indication that he had seen her at all and so she heaved a sigh of relief. She was still invisible. Moving onto the second part of the test, Demetra prodded the guard twice with her finger and grinned wildly when her finger went through.

Lastly, she leaned in until they were face to face. Now came the hardest part. "Your captain is a loser!" She exclaimed loudly, then leapt back waving her pole around, waiting for his reaction. Nothing happened. Despite this, Demetra quickly drew back further. It wouldn't do to get cocky about her non-existence yet again, only to have it fail her where it really mattered.

"When _are_ Captain and the others gettin' back?" The guard suddenly snapped peevishly to his other crewmates on deck, causing Demetra's heart to nearly stop in surprise.

"I dunno!" One of the called back down, equally short-tempered, it seemed. "Heard that Killer-sama went and got himself nice and drunk for once. Poor bastard. They're probably waiting out the worst of his hangover at Hangin' Cuff's Inn."

"Hoo! A hangover? Wonder what kind of drunk Killer-sama is?"

"Ha! The man's a stiff through and through. Probably the quiet sort. Just sittin' there and contemplating life and hangovers!" The pirate guffawed, as if it were not his superior officer he was teasing.

"I don't see him spilling his guts to anyone though!" Another pirate shouted out to another round of laughter.

"Also heard the Captain plans on seeing what a 'Human Auction' is like." Someone shouted over from further away. "Who knows, maybe we'll be getting another mate or two." Raucous laughter met this comment.

Another one scrubbing the desk with painfully slow movements knocked the bucket aside and set the mop on the railing. "Think Captain Kidd will let us order them around a little?" He asked ruefully.

"Yeah, I've enough rope burns to last me a decade of sailing! Get someone else to do it!"

"Same here, same here!"

Demetra looked away, disgusted with the pirates as she headed off. By know she had to know some of the streets. And the Human Shop practically loomed overhead. So she _had_ guessed aptly. The Human Shop was exactly what it sounded like. On the bright side, without even having to wander aimlessly, she had found the two prime locations to avoid. "Perfect!" She murmured to herself, preparing to leave. As long as she strictly avoided the Captain and his first mate, there was no chance of danger or being detected again.

But that left her practically nothing to work with. And doing nothing wouldn't show her how to stop the nightly dimension traveling or even properly interact with the world. Another thought came into mind. _'Maybe… I could tail a different crew?'_ She thought to herself, giving the ship one final venomous glare. _'Or scrap that. Why the hell would I want to stick around more bloodthirsty balloon-headed pirates?'_ She snarled mentally, kicking ruefully at a pebble. It skipped down the street through the air.

This kept up as she stalked down the street, not really bothering to pay attention to her surroundings. They didn't matter. No one could see her again, anyways. How the hell Killer had managed to hear her and how in the world Kidd had managed to touch her was beyond her comprehension. Especially since Kidd had literally leapt through her in his haste to draw blood with Scratchman Apoo. The pebble flew lazily through the air once more.

"Ow!"

Suddenly, the chatter that had been filling the street went deathly silent. Startled by the lack of noise, Demetra looked up, and then promptly wished she hadn't.

The ugliest man- no, thing, sat imperiously in her way, having been distracted momentarily from whatever he had been doing. Demetra couldn't summon the words to her mouth or pick up her jaw as the strangely dressed man looked around furtively for whoever had kicked the pebble his way.

'Strangely dressed' didn't even cut it this time, if she had been comparing him to Scratchman Apoo. Everything about him was bizarre, and Demetra thought she had bizarre down with all the people she had seen hanging around late at night. Dark black hair was curled upwards until it resembled a peacock's plumage. The man's head was surrounded by a giant bubble, no doubt, one of those bon chari things on a smaller scale. Lastly, the robes he wore fell all the way to his feet, giving him a distinct plump look. Snot was dripping steadily from his nose and his heavy lidded vacant expression gave Demetra the distinct impression he was somehow mentally retarded. But all thoughts of pity fled from her mind when she saw what the man was riding on.

A human, chained, shackled like a common horse. A _slave_.

"Who did that?" The man asked slowly, haltingly, glaring at the citizens. It was only then Demetra realized everyone had been on their hands and knees and had their heads knocking the ground. "Who?" He demanded again.

Good god, something had to be wrong with the man's head. Perhaps having a bubble wrapped around his head 24-7 had limited his air supply and blood circulation to his brain and thus resulted in mental retardation. Vaguely aware that her face had twisted into an expression of abhorrent disgust at the man's attitude and overall appearance, Demetra squashed those traitorous thoughts immediately. She wouldn't be the judge of this strange 'king-like' rip-off everyone was acting like frogs for.

Yet something twisted in her stomach. It was a different sort of pain than her hunger pangs but the other explanation for it really didn't settle well with Demetra either. This… man, whatever sort of nobility he was, he wasn't a good one. The vibes she got from his piggy look only spelled greed and evil, and frankly put, it was revolting.

"No-budy?" The strange man asked again, eyes bugging out as he thought up a proper punishment. Then he turned to his guards, two smartly dressed, yet untrustworthy looking men in black. "Kill 'em all!"

"Wha-?" Forgetting all about precaution, Demetra almost screamed this word out loud but it was still loud enough for anyone down the entire street to hear. But none of the civilians even gave any indication that they heard.

On the other hand, the fat man had very nearly been startled into falling off his 'horse'. "Who said that?" He demanded, whirling to face her yet again.

But the blank distant gaze in his eyes indicated he couldn't see her at all. But his next move had been so unexpected, Demetra stood stock still as a bullet whizzed through her right lung. And again through her stomach. The spacey-looking man stood glaring at where he thought the voice had been coming from, pistol smoking as he waited for something to happen.

For several moments, Demetra thought he had entirely missed. But looking down as he fired more shots, she saw that they were not missing. The bullets were striking her head on and phasing right through her body. Horror gave away to wonder, then wonder gave room to realization. Slowly, her face split into a grin as understanding dawned in her mind.

She didn't know why only some people could sense her now. A month before, absolutely no one could even detect her in any form or method. Yet she knew now that it didn't last. She was finally coming into existence in her strange dream world. But oddly enough, all the events were starting to add up. People who saw her could not hear or touch her. People who could touch her could not see or hear her. And likewise, people who heard her could not see or touch her.

Everything was falling perfectly into fitting pieces. Even though selective existence wasn't as good as non-existence, Demetra didn't mind. She had been getting tired of simply being a bystander all this time, after all.

"My- my lord, no one said anything!" One of the guards stammered apologetically as he gave a small bow. "I assure you…" He drifted off when the man glared at him.

"He- he's absolutely right, Charlos-sei, no one said anything." The other man tried. This time they were met with success as the noble seemed to calm down instantly.

"Wuh- really?" A stupid look came over Charlos' face as he looked at the still-cowering townsfolk. "Wutever. Kill them all! Someone threw a rock at me! Kill them! Stoopid civilians!" He ordered, seemingly losing all interest in the non-existent voice.

Before Demetra could say anything, one of the guards whirled on his toes and pumped three to five shots into the crowd. Several of the bowing civilians slumped over, blood pooling beneath them. She was equally horrified to see Charlos yank out his own pistol and begin firing with a look of glee on his face. A couple of the braver citizen shot to their feet and tried to escape but each and every one was steadily mowed down by the laughing man. Many were on their knees, trying to push others in front of them as they scrabbled for protection.

She didn't know when she started screaming but Demetra knew she had to do something. This entire thing was her fault- so there was only one thing to do. "Hey _bastard_! I'm over here!" She shouted as loudly as she could over the gunfire. To her immense relief, Charlos instantly stopped firing and rounded on where he thought she was. "You heard me, asshole! I'm the one who threw that damn rock at you! And look! I'm ­_standing!_ Do you even know what that is???" She laughed, as harshly as she could. "_S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G! _Standing! In your fucking royal majesty's presence! Aren't you gonna come get me, loser?" Out of breath, her voice was rapidly losing power but it had lowered into a dangerous snarl. As a former street-roamer, she knew the ropes of distracting for the sake of her friends. And if she did it well, no one got hurt. And now, it was _impossible_ to get hurt. "Over here!" Now came her cue to start moving his royal ass-ness steadily away from the still cowering civilians.

"Yeh won't get away with this! No-budy goes up against the Tenryuubito!" Charlos shouted, waving his pistol aimlessly in the air as he jabbed his heels into the human's hips. Damn, she had forgotten that the fat Tenryuubito apparently couldn't walk too well on his own. The man he was riding on gave a moan of distress and before he could kick him again, his arms gave out and Charlos went flying to the floor gracelessly, face first. "Kill him! Kill him!" The fallen Tenryuubito snarled, struggling to return to his feet.

The man too, was trying to crawl away desperately but as Charlos ferociously kicked the emaciated man in the ribs, something deep within Demetra's pacifistic mind snapped. Enough was enough. Being a pacifist would not save these people or the poor wretch on the ground now.

"FAT CHANCE, ass-face!" Demetra roared, fisting her pole tightly as she leapt up, over the human slave and swung down at the Tenryuubito's face. With a sickening crunch, the disgusting man's face was completely smashed in, but Demetra didn't stop there. Her protective beast had awoken yet again with a vengeance, with ten times the original power from when she had to treat her injured friends. With an awe-inspiring bellow of rage, she threw every last bit of strength she had in her thin body and sent the fat man rolling through the air.

Jaws dropped everywhere as the object of their fear was sent soaring far down the street and into a building with another sickening crunch. When the dust cleared, Charlos was revealed in a puddle of blood, snot, and concrete, completely out cold.

But Demetra wasn't done yet. The two guards that had been with Charlos were too stunned to do anything but fall like the dummies they were when Demetra turned her iron pole on their unsuspecting heads. They slumped against each other as they sank to the earth, blissfully aware.

Panting heavily at the sudden exertion, Demetra realized her hands were shaking quite violently. The trembling worsened when she looked down at the two unconscious guards and the bloody-faced man lying in the rubble and dust. Then she looked at the pole in her snow-white, quivering hands. Wrapped tightly around the pole, her knuckles were practically translucent.

Then she saw the red that was smeared all over the pole's tip and she almost dropped it as the surge of adrenalin she'd been running on completely leaked out of her. "_What have I done?_"

Only then, did Demetra realize that the jaws dropping and the horrified expressions were directed at _her_.

* * *

Does anyone else hate Charlos? His design practically screams 'beat me up so an admiral will come'.

Anywho, thanks for bearing through another chapters, please drop off any comments, etc.

-Kagetaka


	6. The Dreamer's Consequences

**T.T **I'm going to blow up. My login session decided to die when I chose to save the changes on Document Manager. There goes all my replies to your guy's reviews... sigh... here I go again.

Irenia: I am! T.T

Suddeneclipse: Indeed, I know that urge. But to be truthful, some stories have OC's that aren't firmly enough entrenched into the main storyline, that's what makes them a bit uninteresting. Although ironically, here we've got Demetra who's completely disconnected from the 'dream world', and yet she manages to worm her opinions into every thing that happens well enough. Thanks for reading and reviewing like always!

Wolfsmond: Yeah, he's alive *sadly* He took a punch to his face from a wrath-filled Luffy so I'm guessing Demetra, a normal girl with a solid steel pole probably did even less damage, even though it doesn't seem like it. Thanks for reviewing!

Dancing Nightmare: Thank you. I tried to give Demetra a good backround and character because, afterall, she's supposed to be a real-life person who's dealing with a dream world run amok. I'm glad to see my giant blocks of descriptions encourage readers rather than discourages them. . Something I've always worried about. Thanks for reading and reviewing yet again!

Oh, and since you stated you were reading, ImmortalMelody, and because I can't seem to edit reviews or add another one to the same chapter, and the message doesn't seem to warrant a PM, I'll ask here. _Was that Sachiko's dagger Kidd was holding at the end of Chapter Five_?

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**The Dreamer's Consequences**

"Th-there! There was girl, standing right there!" An old woman babbled frantically. She was only one of the swarm hustling around the concerned marine officials. "She appeared out of no where, smacked Charlos-sei and the guards, and then disappeared again! Into thin air!"

All around her, numerous heads nodded emphatically. "Scrawny short thing she was!"

"Really pale!"

"Looked like a pirate!"

"Pirate!"

Another person shook his head. "Too nice. What sort of pirate would stand up for a slave they never knew, anyways?"

But this too, was lost among the clamor of confusion. "Who was it?"

"Pirates!"

"Enou- Enough!" The marine called over the swarm of voices to absolutely no avail. His voice was lost among the excited crowd. "That's quite enough, you hear!" He tried again.

Off to the side, more marines were unfolding a large white cotton stretcher while another four gently hauled the beaten Tenryuubito onto the transport. A quick medical scan was done and the blood was wiped away to make the Tenryuubito look as presentable as he could even with his swollen lips and cheeks. One of his eyes were bruised black and blue.

"ENOUGH!" The marine finally roared over the din. Immediately, the crowd fell deathly quiet, as if he were about to re-hand them all death sentences for treason. Satisfied with their reaction, the marine gave way to his superior once more.

He was a not so-impressive looking man, however. The only thing notable about the Commodore was the scar running down the side of his face and the grim frown he bore, but that could have simply been the result of the stress and the situation he was dealing with. A Tenryuubito had been _attacked_ and the perpetrator had apparently vanished into thin air, according to eyewitnesses.

"Alright. Who can describe the perpetrator to us?" He asked as the crowd looked at one another. "Speak up or be considered co-conspirators with the offender!" He snapped.

The old woman from before elbowed a man in the gut before pushing to the front. "She was about this tall." She gestured, raising her arms above her head. "Very thin, like she hadn't been eating. Dark shadows beneath her eyes. Carried around a giant metal thing. Couldn't tell what it was though! Blasted prescriptions!" She snarled, waving a pair of silver glasses around.

Several members of the crowd hissed quietly, clearly upset with one of their numbers betraying their savior. "Damned old hag…" One of them whispered.

"Looked 19…with b-black hair. About shoulder-length. A-and s-such a frightening face!" Someone else stammered, but that was enough to renew the chaos once again.

Almost immediately, the crowd burst into heated debates once more, arguing about who or what exactly they'd seen. The marines crowded in, trying to silence or calm the crowd but the volume only continued to steadily increase.

Demetra stood stock still in the center of this crowd, wishing she were invisible. Of course, that was before she realized she _was_ invisible. Or at least, she had returned to being un-seeable once more in her panic. "Wh- whoa… they- they saw me!" Her heart started to rush as the familiar sensation of dizziness pumped through her head. "They saw me!" She squeaked, backing away through various people. "Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck…HOW?" Demetra took off, dashing down the street, trying to put as much space between her and the commotion. This could not bode well for her, whichever way she saw it.

The fat bastard dressed the part of a noble to a fault. Undoubtedly he would be after her with a vengeance. _'But he won't be able to recognize you…'_ Her traitorous mind whispered conspiratorially.

And what had he called himself? A 'Tenryuubito'? The word was uneasily familiar, and it only took her a second longer to remember where she had heard the word, twice, in fact. Killer had mentioned them while trying to persuade his captain to leave the archipelago as soon as the coating job was done. Then, whoever she had just smashed in was an object of fear, or at least, avoidance, for even a pirate crew as powerful as the Kidd Pirates.

"I've really outdone myself this time." Demetra sighed. Her dream world was only steadily growing more and more dangerous, something she did not take comfort in at all.

In her blind panic, Demetra hadn't realized how far she had gone from the ship. Instead, she found herself leaning against a large building, plastered in pure white and accented with many columns. It gave off the impression of something magnificent and yet when Demetra realized it, she could feel her stomach sinking with reluctance. This was the bloody _Human Auction Shop_.

Speaking of which, the poor man she had saved had been dragged off seconds ago by the marines, towards the shop. A jostle of fear and pity welled up inside of her. Were they planning on selling him off again?

"_Damnit_" She hissed quite openly, willing herself to face the facts. This world was nothing like her own. At the very least it was a hundred times more absurd with monster pirates, ass-headed nobles, and slavery.

The undeniable urge to step into the shop intensified but Demetra recoiled from the thought for several reasons. Firstly, two pirates out for her blood would probably be gathered in there with the rest of their crew. Secondly, it was a fucking _Human Shop_. Everything would reek of misery, fear, hatred, and some evil sort of pride.

Her hands gripped the cool porcelain of the wall and she sighed. The third reason was fear. Demetra admitted to herself she had no desire to walk in and see chained, bound, beaten men and woman being paraded across the stage and handed off to the highest bidder, their lives reduced to nothing but chains and the amount of money spent on them. Then her hands fisted.

_She'd_ been there when Saber and all the others created a diversion whenever something went terribly wrong. _She'd_ been on the literal battlefield, beating the thugs off her friends and dragging the wounded off to the side while they were still dripping in their blood. Cowardice had _not_ been an option. And it wasn't now. Demetra straightened her back and she glared at the building of sin. Slavery had been very real in her own world and discrimination itself had only began to decline. _This_ world was no different and she'd be damned if she ran away from something just because it didn't suit her moral tastes.

Furthermore, the commotion she'd stirred up was starting to grow louder and louder and to be frank, it was causing a headache she really didn't want. Without another word or thought, Demetra slipped through the wall, instinctively dodging cobwebs and spiders while she looked for the other side of the hollow wall, which she found with little trouble at all through the pitch black darkness. But before she phased through it, she made sure to stick her hand through the wall and feel for anyone before walking out.

The interior of the building was as shady as its name without a doubt. And the atmosphere was stifling, on top of that. Already the auction was in full swing, with some strange silver-haired man in flashing clothing (or what, suspiciously, looked like a _dress_ of all things) acting as the auctioneer. With mild horror and disgust, Demetra saw that he truly _enjoyed_ his job.

Then she chanced a look away from the ridiculous sod on stage and almost yelped had she not remembered to remain unheard. Assembled on the other side across the room in the shadow of several bulky red satin curtains were of course, the Kidd Pirates. Their captain appeared even more fearsome with the shadows cast across his sharp visage and the blood red curtains he was leaning against didn't help the effect.

And right next to him was Killer, who apparently looked a lot better than what his crewmates back at the ship had been mouthing off. Silently, he stood next to his captain with his arms crossed, glaring sternly at the unnoticing crowd.

Demetra couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Here they were, all these stuffed-shirt nobles and wealthy bastards so confident in their money and their titles that they could stand to completely disregard a pirate crew in their midst. It was sheer stupidity on their part, but Demetra wasn't in any hurry to warn them of the potential dangers. It was like seeing a street fight all over again, these toe rags were the gangs that dawdled around waiting for a hapless moron only to find that they had monsters on their hands instead. Not her fondest memory of her friends but it _had_ been self-defense and the first opening they had, the Saber XI had turned and tail and fled, even though they had the upper hand.

"W-What's wrong with him!" Someone from the crowd screamed loudly, and Demetra shot out of her memory and flickered her eyes around the room, scanning for the cause.

To her immense relief, no one was looking at her, but rather, everyone was entranced at what was occurring onstage. The chained slave was bleeding, and not just slightly, but it was pouring down in rivers from his mouth. Quickly, she chanced a look over her shoulder toward the pirates and was surprised to see the slight expression of respect Kidd had on. At least Demetra thought it was respect, since he was veiling it well with his usual half-amused smirk.

That slave- no, that pirate, had chosen to die over being forced into servitude. Grudgingly, Demetra had to give the fallen man a nod of respect as well, even if he was a pirate. Quickly, two clown like characters came onstage to drag the dead man out while another quickly whipped a mop across the blood.

"Yare yare…they should have left it…" A low soft voice purred from back of the crowd on Demetra's side.

The caustic comment had come from what seemed to be someone around his 20's, who was casually watching the proceedings even as some of the weak-hearted nobles around him swooned at the sight of the blood staining the floors. Demetra knew immediately this man was not one of them, and chances were, he wasn't an average civilian either. His 'aura' was simply too _big_. This man, too, had to be a pirate. From the dark shadows beneath his eyes to the strange grinning smiley face on his yellow and black shirt, everything about his appearance excluded a laid back demeanor covering for a more dangerous person, but Demetra wasn't fooled by his exterior. This stranger was dangerous, perhaps even on equal footing with Eustass Kidd.

And if that thought wasn't intimidating enough, then the giant white polar bear in orange sitting a row behind him holding a giant katana was.

"As if it really mattered, the buyers end up getting more blood out of the slaves than that guy did himself…" Then the man turned entirely in his seat and gave Demetra a cocky smirk and her heart nearly stopped again. "What do you think… miss?" His crew all gave him a strange look as he seemingly turned to talk to the wall.

The raven-haired girl froze where she was. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Could he… see her? His eyes were still completely fixated on where she stood, almost prompting her to dive through the wall to escape. "M-me?" Demetra squeaked, shooting Killer on the other side of the room a careful look in case he was still able to hear her.

The man cocked his head as he continued to fix his questioning gaze on her. "Even if I can't see you, I can still sense you." He stated quietly, but Demetra didn't care. His words brought a sense of greater relief to her troubled mind. But the man didn't seem to be able to hear her and neither had Killer. "Hmm… shy? That's alright too." He turned back around to fix his attention on the stage, where something bulging was beginning to emerge from the curtains. "Just have fun and watch the show…it's only starting to get good." He murmured ominously.

Relieved that he hadn't tried to investigate further, Demetra slowly edged away from him and his crew while refocusing on stage just in time to see something covered in white being rolled out. "A… a fish tank?" Demetra muttered to herself curiously as she spotted the outline beneath the white cloth that covered the next 'product'. "Don't tell me they're gonna try pass off a fish as a human…? Unless…"

"It's a super-special item!" The auctioneer was saying jovially into the mike, as if he were not about to condemn another soul into slavery. "Ladies and gentlemen-"

"Bitches and barbarians." Demetra interjected angrily, whirling on her heel as disgust drove her to look away.

Of course, the auctioneer was completely unaware of the slanderous edits to his show and continued on. "Feast your eyes on the legendary beast many try to capture but few succeed!"

Indeed. The rest of the audience seemed to have realized as well by now. Row after row of bidders clutched their seats as they leaned forwards with piggy eyes. Some of them were fingering their number fan, as if they were ready to shoot out of the seats wildly.

"-The mermaid, Caimie!"

Curiosity and guilty excitement rose in her chest as Demetra snapped her head around and craned for a good look. A _mermaid_, the real live thing, right in front of her eyes. How many girls back home honestly got to brag that?

Automatically, the jubilation she felt dropped to her feet and shattered when she saw the mermaid. The poor girl in the tank appeared terrified, her palms placed flat against the glass pleadingly. Her mouth was forming incoherent words that could not be heard at all. Demetra dropped her eyes. There was nothing she could do for the mermaid other than watch. There was nothing anyone could practically do for her. The mermaid in the tank, Caimie, would find no help from anyone in the audience.

As bids started to fly across the room, the large double doors to the auction shop swung open again and once more, Demetra's attention was diverted. With some satisfaction, she noticed that the Kidd Pirates too, had been drawn to the newcomer.

It was the marine that had been interrogating the civilians in the aftermath of the havoc she'd wrecked. Discretely, he stalked past her and headed down the left-most aisle with purpose in his stride… all the while, Demetra followed with her eyes and further ahead and almost gasped. Two curly-top hairstyles encased by bubbles instantly caught her eye.

"_Family_? That bastard has…" She trailed off, shaking her head furtively. "More Tenryuubito." Demetra snarled under her breath. If one acted like an asshole and treated the world like his own personal dollhouse, then she had no doubt that the others would be the same.

One of the Tenryuubito stood up, an elderly man wearing sunglasses and a permanent scowl on his face. "Stop the auction." He snapped over to the auctioneer, who froze in his advertising antics. The audience too, fell completely silence, the numbers dying in the most recent bidder's mouth as the World Noble followed the marine Commodore out.

'_So it was family'_ Demetra thought to herself as she fell in line behind the Tenryuubito, overhearing words such as "pirate attack" and "Charlos" and she snorted again, scooting away from them in case one of the two could detect her in any way. Furthermore, they were headed for the doors, too close to the Kidd Pirates for her comfort. _'They think I'm a pirate?'_ She looked down at herself in disgust. Leather jacket, ripped jeans, overall 'street' look… well, she could see where they were coming from. _'Well, I've got the street look down. I reckon they've mostly got problems with pirates and bandits though, not gang members.'_

When the doors clanged shut again, everyone sat in silence, looking at each other, unsure of what to do. Kidd shifted from his position and unfolded his arms, looking around. "Hmph. Tenryuubito affairs. But I wonder what happened?"

"Dunno, but the old coot looked pretty mad right then." Killer commented slowly, not trusting his tongue or his head at the moment. "Meaning someone's gonna be faced with misery and despair. Hopefully some marine higher-up."

Demetra found herself twitching at the words 'misery' and 'despair,' choosing to make a faster tactical retreat. Unaware that their invisible stalker had returned to haunt them, Kidd smirked quietly. "If it gets bad, we'll have to get going. Admirals don't mess around-" he was cut off by the sound of the door creaking open gently.

"Those guys…" Killer noted, as the newcomers poured in while the door was held open by a giant brown human-beast hybrid. No doubt a devil fruit user. "'Cotton Candy Lover' Tony Tony Chopper… 'Cat Thief' Nami… 'Black-Leg' Sanji…and 'Cyborg' Franky. Don't recognize the long-lipped one though." He stated calmly. "Those guys are apart of the Straw-Hat Crew."

Scanning each of the new faces and failing to see the one he wanted, Kidd leaned back into the wall with a disappointed sigh. "I don't see their captain though. I wanted to see just how much of an idiot he was!"

"Or you just wanted to gauge his strength." The masked man added unhelpfully. "The only two rookie pirates to break the 300 million belli mark. Hell, he's even got Enies Lobby on his resume. That's serious competition."

"That too." He admitted shamelessly. "But that makes everything all the more sweeter."

The Straw Hat Pirates, unaware of the talk going on about their captain, had their collective gaze fixed on Caimie, who seemed immensely relieved to see the excessively pink-skinned, spiky haired man accompanying the crew. Her lips kept forming the same word over and over again but the glass between her and the crowd was too thick for anyone to hear her glee.

Warily, Demetra curiously began to approach this new crew of pirates. At least they seemed friendly enough, unlike the other crews she had the displeasure of meeting. Several of them also looked incredibly… normal, compared to other pirates. If she hadn't known any better, they could have passed themselves off as ordinary civilians. Well, at least most of them could have. The orange haired girl was holding one of the House's auction fans in her hand, fiddling with it ravenously as if it were about to fly away. The only one she felt slightly _concerned_ about was the furry man-thing that looked more like an animal than a person.

And then again, there was this giant _bear_ sitting a little ways in front of her…

"Why aren't they bidding?" The orange haired girl hissed lowly, throwing a look over her shoulder to ensure no one was listening in. "Do you think something's wrong?"

"Dunno. Check it out, even the auctioneer guy isn't doing anything." The bulky blue haired man answered, rubbing the metal piece that made up his nose.

True to his word, the silver-haired man on stage was standing awkwardly on stage, shooting glares every now and then at the unsuspecting mermaid as if it were somehow her fault the Tenryuubito had ordered the auction stopped. But Caimie didn't care, all she could see were her friends and Hachi. Everything would be alright now.

"I want to pound that guy's face in." The messy-haired blonde snarled under his breath, pulling out his lighted cigarette. "Just look at how rude he's being to Caimie-chan!"

The orange haired girl seemed to snap slightly. "Oh shush, Sanji! Let's just find a place to stand and wait until they get started. I don't want to get near these… pigs…" She gestured at the crowd with a look of abhorrent disgust on her lips. "Unless it's to pickpocket them!"

"Haaiii~ Nami-swaaaan!" Managing to miraculously sing what should have been something extraordinarily loud in a whisper, the blonde leapt away to the other side of the door, running right through Demetra, who felt her hair blow past in his eagerness to please.

Nami only shook her head and waved the others over to join their companion. "Now we find out what's going on…"

"Ne, Nami… isn't that one of those Tenryuubito guys?" The half man half monster thing asked in a high pitched voice Demetra would have categorized as cute had it not been the one to come out of that body.

The orange haired navigator stood on her toes as she peered over the sea of heads and found who Chopper was pointing at. A light brown-haired woman wearing a veil across her mouth and the trademark bubble and suit was sitting boredly in her chair, pouting as her guards tried to soothe her temper.

"Yeah, it is. We'll need to watch ourselves carefully." She whispered back. "Don't worry too much right now, Chopper. Worry when Luffy gets here."

"And Zoro." The reindeer added, after a moment's consideration.

Fiddling with his cigarette before placing it back between his lips, Sanji shook his head. "Nah. I hate to admit it but marimo-head got control when he knows it'll put the rest of us in danger. Luffy's the only one we have to worry about."

The grinding of steel indicated that the double doors were swinging open one final time, and collectively, everyone in the house turned to meet the fearsome wrath-filled scowl of the elder Tenryuubito, who stood surrounded by top-ranking marines as well as guards completely swathed in steel armor wielding giant thick spears.

All the way in the front, the female Tenryuubito stood gracefully to greet her father with a nod. "Father. What has happened?"

The old man's scowl only seemed to deepen as his age lines crinkled up. "Your brother has been attacked. I've ordered an admiral to come to the island to hunt down every last pirate!"

And with those words, all hell broke loose in the auction house.

* * *

Gah. Writing this message for the second time. Do not like! Anywho, to cut it short, I'll just say that things have been changed around a little since the marines have absolutely no idea who attacked Charlos other than the fact the crowd seems to think it was a pirate. Therefore, I'm giving everyone hell when they try to escape from the admiral... lol.

Anyhow, I don't think I'll be tossing up an update tomorrow, I need a day off to finish catching up and editing my own chapters. I still need a beta, coincedentally.

Thanks for reading and please drop comments off! Cheers!

-Kagetaka


	7. The Dreamer's Hell

Irenia: Lol, I'm happy for your enthusiasm. I do plan on making Demetra a little more obvious to the rest of the One Piece world and gradually there will be cases when she can be completely detected but only for a couple seconds, and even then, she won't be aware of how she's doing it. Thanks for reading and reviewing again!

ImmortalMelody: Any way you think of it, unless I had Shalulia shoot Hachi and Luffy punch her instead, I could have probably salvaged that part but in the spirit of characterization, neither she nor her father seemed interested in bidding at all so there would have been no desperate situation for the Straw Hats in retrieving Caimie. . My desire to beat up Charlos changed stuff around but it'll work out. Lol. Thanks for reading and dropping a comment! (Aha, I knew it. I even went back to chapter two to double check the descriptions of the daggers...)

Dancing Nightmare: I really want to keep it as close to the original plot as possible, that is, until the Kidd Pirates leave Sabaody. In short, Demetra has just made it even more difficult to escape the archipelago. I'm sure if certain individuals found out, she would be dying several gruesome deaths. Hahaha. Law would have to be my second favorite Supernova. . I must have some sort of strange affinity for sadists. *Brrrr* Thanks for reviewing again! Although... your profile indicates you live in Sweeden O.O... that_ is_ late.

Wolfsmond: Indeed she does but what else do you expect from someone who thinks the world's a dream and knows nothing about OP? Hahahahaha. At this rate she'll have the entire world after her, even the maids! Thanks for reviewing yet again ^^.

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**The Dreamer's Hell**

"_What?_" The female Tenryuubito hissed, yet everyone in the house could hear the rage and disbelief mingling in her voice. "_Who?_ Who dares touch the descendants of the creators of this world?" Disquieting murmurs filled the air as she stamped from her seat to meet her father. Indeed. Who had dared to raise a hand against _them_?

"E-e-every… last?" Nami stammered, completely floored by the harsh announcement. "S-shit! We're gonna be in big trouble!"

The blonde cook seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Come on. Let's work up a plan to take Caimie back and get the hell out of here."

"But Sunny hasn't been coated yet!" Chopper interjected, barely raising his voice above a whisper. "We won't be able to go on to Fishman Island!"

"Does it really matter? If we get caught here, we won't be able to go on anywhere!" Nami hissed back, urgency making her tone slightly harsher than she'd intended. "The others still don't know about this! We have to warn them before Luffy does something stupid!"

"And what about mermaid-girl then?" Franky spoke up, jabbing a thumb towards Caimie's direction. The green-haired mermaid seemed completely oblivious as to what was going on beyond her tank other than the fact that the audience seemed perturbed.

"N-nyuu… this isn't good at all!" The long-lipped man finally spoke up for the first time as he rubbed his hands together nervously. "What's gonna happen to all of us…?"

Meanwhile, the audience was sharing the same sentiments, glancing at each other nervously. Certainly, they weren't pirates, but now there were two angry Tenryuubito among their midst and even with all their titles and wealth, all that meant shit when placed up against the influence and power of the World Nobles. They would lose their lives in an instant if the two chose to take out their frustrations on them.

But to the gathering's relief, the woman and the elderly man merely gave the entire house a piercing glare as if it were somehow their faults before being escorted out by their guards and the marines. A sigh of relief could be heard literally flooding out of the doors.

"That can't be a good thing, Captain." The bear in front of Demetra suddenly spoke up in a slow, deep, drawl, almost causing her to jump out of her shoes. The bear was fucking _talking_. Talking! But apparently, he was completely unfazed or ignorant of his illogical nature, since the bear continued talking. "Should we leave?"

The man who had spoken to her before gave a brief shake of his head while a small smile played on his lips. "Not yet, Bepo. The auction's not over."

"_Captain_!" One of his crewmates hissed exasperatedly.

"Not yet." The captain repeated nonchalantly, leaning back casually as if he wasn't a pirate and as if the Tenryuubito man hadn't just handed down a capture sentence for him.

Meanwhile, over on the other side of the building, Killer gave a rueful shake of his head. "I told you this island was shit. Now can we leave?" He asked with a steady voice. It would not do to whine.

"Patience, Killer." Kidd replied, continuing to gaze stonily at the stage, where the auctioneer had slowly begun to resume the 'show'. Killer snorted goodheartedly, noting the irony of the statement. "We're in no danger yet."

"Right. Yet." The masked man noted sarcastically, yet, he deigned to his captain's decision anyways. "I'll tear you a new one if we get caught." But Kidd merely waved off the half-hearted threat and motioned for Killer to pay attention to the stage once more.

Meanwhile, the bid had risen to 50 million. Nami quickly returned her attention to the stage and flung up her number. "55!" She called out determinedly. Caimie's eyes widened with relief as she watched Nami engage in a glaring contest with her competition.

"Aaaand #72 bids 55 million!" The auctioneer crowed, whirling on his heels to see other numbers being thrown around the house. Consecutive bid after bids were placed and Nami didn't even have to open her mouth again to watch it climb.

When the bid hit 70 million, Nami sighed and decided to fling caution to the winds and raised her number when it seemed as if all other bidders had stopped. "100." She stated calmly, to the amazement of her nakama and the audience around her. Even Demetra had the decency to be surprised at the seemingly common girl throwing around such giant numbers around.

Even the auctioneer seemed to have lost his composure momentarily, before recovering instantly with instant glee. 100 million was waaay over the going prices for a young female mermaid! And as a bonus, he recognized the face of the girl who had bid the phenomenal amount. After all, she was a member of the infamous Straw-Hat crew. With any luck, by the end of the day, the pirates would be rounded up and the mermaid would once again be in their hands for re-sale.

When the silence ticked by for another five seconds, the auctioneer slammed his gavel down. "Sold! And this marks the end of our day with the selling of 'Mermaid' Caimie for the astonishing price of 100 million belli!" This was met with many grumbling from the audience but several decided to applaud anyways.

"The mermaid must be an acquaintance of theirs." Killer commented offhandedly as they watched the procedures. "I don't see why a pirate crew needs a mermaid unless they need life-guards for the Devil Fruit users." He remarked pointedly at Kidd.

"Hmph! Better pirates then any one of those bastards." The red-haired captain muttered lowly, determinedly ignoring the insult. "The world is screwed up enough as is."

Relief flooding her veins, Nami slumped as the other bidder appraised her with looks of awe and respect that she didn't want. Who wanted approval from a bunch like them? "Thank goodness. Let's pay, grab Caimie and get the hell of this island." She announced quietly to the crew, fisting the cash in her pockets and striding down to the pick up area with her head held high while the others followed in line. She didn't notice Disco fisting a small Den Den Mushi as he slipped backstage.

Following the line with her eyes, Demetra saw the successful bidders heading backstage, and she too, was just about to follow the crew of her interest when suddenly, the entire building began to quake violently. A particularly severe wave knocked her right off her feet and sent her careening into- and right through the white polar bear named Bepo. A _bear_. Demetra scrambled to get to her feet, fearing that she was about to get devoured, completely unaware that the pirate who had tried to talk to her earlier was looking directly at her and his bear in surprise.

But his surprise was the least of her concern. _Her_ surprise was directed at the stage curtains and the rafters above the stage, which were all coming apart as something began to emerge from the backstage area where the slaves were kept.

Her mouth instantly went dry and even swallowing didn't help the sensation of fear that spread from her gut to every last nerve in her body. It was even worse than when Killer had her cornered with his blades and his rage. At least her expression was being mirrored by Caimie, who looked equally, if not, more horrified at the monster. If it was hostile, she would be the first to go.

A giant hand parted the curtains, flinging them aside violently as an equally giant head crushed the rafters to make room for the figure.

"G-gi…" Demetra swallowed again. Suddenly, her tongue felt too immovable to form the words. "Gi-gia…"

The sheer bulk of the creature stumbling from the stage was stealing the words right out of her mouth, but it was simply unnecessary as members of the audience began to scream the word for her.

"GIANT!" A woman's shriek filled the air and chaos broke free. "GIANT ON THE LOOSE!"

People were suddenly everywhere, tripping, stumbling, and shoving, acting every bit unlike the roles they were supposed to play. Fallen bodies were trampled on; screams ran rampant through the air as the buyers fled for their lives. Even as they burst through her, from the corner of her eyes, Demetra could see the Kidd Pirates edging away from the door. Kidd was even reaching for his dagger, and even in their rush, the nobles made a point to avoid the homicidal-looking man with the crazy smile, even if many of them did not recognize him in their panic. The only people who had remained completely, or at least seemingly unfazed were the Straw Hat Pirates, the strange man with the polar bear on his crew, and the Kidd Pirates. Everyone else had tossed dignity and pride to the dogs and some were even physically punching others in their desperation to escape.

Over the din, she heard what seemed to be an old man's voice chortling amusedly. "Oh my. I thought this place would be chaotic enough when we came out. Looks like we were the source of it instead, eh, Giant-kun?"

"You _are_ a cracked up old man." The giant man responded sternly as he held the curtain open for the old man.

But instead of taking offense to the giant's comments, the old man only seemed to double up with well-intentioned laughter. "Ahahahaha! Well, it _was_ time to leave! I've got my money, you've got your freedom, the besides, Disco-kun was calling the marines!"

Kidd narrowed his eyes at this revelation but made absolutely no effort to leave as he continued to observe the old man with an appraising eye. '_That old man… it couldn't be…!'_ Jabbing Killer non too gently in the ribs, he tilted his head towards the old man on stage.

"What!" Killer hissed, shoving Kidd away from himself, then noticed who his captain was motioning at and stopped. "Hey… that old guy, he's…" But the rest of his words were lost over Nami's surprised shout and the stamping of the crowd as they frantically struggled to escape.

"Calling the…" Nami trailed off, looking horrified at the implications. "They recognized us!" She hissed, whirling on her comrades. "Quick! While everyone's panicking, let's grab Caimie and go!" When the others stared at her orders stupidly, she smacked her head and rounded on the one she knew would follow her every order. "Sanji! Get backstage, beat up those thugs, grab Caimie, and GO! The situation is already at its worst! There's an admiral coming and half the crew don't know it! Go, go, go! And you guys!" The orange haired navigator snarled, turning on the remaining crewmembers. "Stay nearby, now's the worst time to be separated!"

Once more, Demetra thanked her lucky stars that she was invisible and intangible, otherwise she would have joined the trampled on the ground. In fact, she was prepared to sing praises to the heavens when the roof caved in on top of the panicking masses. Dust and shingles flew through the air, cutting through her and embedding themselves in bodies, legs, and shoulders. Plaster rained down on the crowd and the screaming was strangled out by particles of wall.

To Demetra, it was as if someone had set up bombs around and on top of the auction house. Something- three things, smashed through the rooftops and three people dropped from the giant flying objects. Meanwhile, the walls were being punctured in by two more flying monstrosities.

If she closed her eyes, she could pretend that none of this was happening and that she was simply in a simple world where pirates still existed. Period. No super powers, freaks of nature, or impossibilities. But despite it all, Demetra didn't want to close her eyes and miss out. There was a giant onstage. There was a real live mermaid in a tank. There was a giant talking intelligent bear in the audience.

And then there were flying fish. With riders.

It weirded her out beyond belief but as much as it did, it also fascinated her as five flying fish, fully equipped with handlebars and seats, punctured through the house with enough force to knock a smaller house into nothing but stones and dust, at the mere cost of their consciousness. It was an impressive sight to behold, and it only grew when the 'luggage' was dropped off and five more people stood from the wreckage they had caused, each and every one of the excluding a calm, yet dangerous demeanor.

Coughing furiously, Nami knew exactly who to blame for all of this. Quickly, she ducked to the floor where the air would be clean and inhaled deeply. Then she propped herself back up and screamed with all her might. "LUFFY!"

Squinting through the dusty and debris, Demetra patiently waited out the storm right where she was as people took their chances and dove through the new hole in the wall. Within seconds, the sea of human bodies had flooded from the gap and the only people left were the guards, furiously trying to put down the giant and the injured, on the ground, completely knocked out.

But before anything else could be shouted, over the sudden silence, 'Luffy' gave a cry of glee and went stampeding down and over seats, aisles, and fallen bodies, pummeling two iron-clad guards in the face as they moved in to stop him. "CAAAAIIIMIIIIEEEEEE!!!"

"Oh great." Demetra heard Nami mumble under her breath as her captain tore down all obstacles, dove through two of the clown-like employees and suddenly flung out both hands.

Demetra was treated to another, she presumed, rare sight as the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates suddenly _stretched_ and his arms elongated until the hands had seized onto the glass of the mermaid's tank.

Her day just couldn't get any weirder, now, could it? Over the stark silence, she could hear Kidd's surprised "_He can stretch?_" and agreed with the assessment. Demetra quickly added 'stretchy boys' to the list of oddities that had occurred today and sighed. No matter how many strange things she saw in this world, she was certain she would never hit the bottom of the jar.

Propelled by the potential energy in his rubbery arms, Luffy flew straight over the fish tank and plowed straight into the giant's stomach, ricocheting into the ground, and bouncing to his feet as if nothing had happened. His arms snapped back to normal length with an audible pop. "Caimie! You're safe!" He announced cheerfully, as if it were the only thing in the world that mattered.

The old man on stage guffawed again. "Aha! I've been looking for you, Straw Hat Luffy! But it seems as if you've found me instead!" A guard made to swipe at his head but the spear slammed into the stage instead. Faster than the blink of an eye, the old man had vanished off stage and appeared to be strutting down the center aisle, where even more guards made to dive at him. "My. This doesn't seem to be a very polite atmosphere to begin a conversation in…" He began, eyeing all the pointy weapons directed at his person. "Well, I certainly hope you gentlemen don't mind a quick nap…"

What happened next, Demetra could only describe as some sort of shockwave that touched nothing but the human consciousness. It rushed throughout the entire building, filling her with a sense of dread and awe. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to turn and flee from whoever this sharp-eyed old man was. But before her body's instinct could overtake her mind, even she felt the sudden sensation of her mind completely shutting itself down for several terrifyingly blank seconds and her vision went completely white.

--

When everything came back into focus, Demetra could hear the gurgling sounds of row after row of guards collapsing in shock as their eyes rolled back. They landed in ungraceful heaps on the bottom of the stairs. Not in the least bit concerned about their health, since they didn't seem to be physically harmed in any way, Demetra turned her attention to herself.

Quickly, she inspected herself for any changes that could have possibly occurred while she'd been out and breathed a sigh of relief when nothing seemed off except for the fact her head was sporting a mighty headache and her brain seemed to be jumping up and down in her skull. She tried to move her head slightly, only to be rewarded by an internal slap in the face. However, just as quickly as it had come, it died with the strange shockwave and left her feeling completely disoriented and queasy.

'_Gods. Remind me never to piss off old men in this world!_' She thought to herself as the old man seemed to shake himself off.

Once more, the silence was punctured by the Straw-Hat captain's excited cries. "Whoooa! That was awesome!"

However, his crew seemed to be thinking along different lines. "How in the world did he do that?" One of the newcomers asked, and Demetra forced herself to look at the other five members who had all busted through a building and rose again completely unscathed.

She blinked. Then looked away while mentally adding 'Walking, talking skeleton' to her list and settled for glaring at a corner while other members voiced similar sentiments about the old man. Unfortunately, said corner was where the Kidd Pirates had retreated into. _'Oh great. Don't they look absolutely chipper.' _

Kidd had taken the blast of haki and reveled in the sheer power of the wave as it washed through every inch of his body. Exhilaratingly, it flooded through his veins and he could feel his heart quickening with excitement and the familiar sensation of bloodlust even as the haki died down. It hadn't a minor blast either, it had been wide-spread _and_ powerful enough to take down a whole five platoon of marines at least. Kidd didn't bother turning to ask on his crewmate's health- they were all powerful enough to take the hit.

On the other hand, the hangover-induced nausea returned full force for Killer, and the masked man paled as his head began to throw another tantrum. Thankfully, his face was hidden behind his blue-white mask. "Damn…" He murmured, half in annoyance and half in awe.

The captain deigned to give his first mate a concerned glance as he remembered exactly how Killer had woken up earlier in the morning and did not feel inclined towards a second performance. "You good?"

"Yeah… I hope." Killer grunted, forcing a wave of sickness down. He could wait until they were back on the ship to be sick. "You'd better be thankful I'm saving your face here." The first mate snarled, hoping his posture didn't betray sign of weakness.

"I _will_ be if you've learned your lesson." Kidd whispered back as he watched the proceedings with great interest. Suddenly, the old man turned towards them and smirked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were here only here to watch the show, but look's like you're involved now anyways." The elderly man said, wiping a stray strand of long silver hair away. "But then again, if you took that blast so well, you can't be ordinary pirates either."

"…" Finally, Kidd returned the smirk as cockily as he dared to and meandered from the corner to stand in the center aisle. The chorus of footsteps told him his crew was following as they flanked their captain "I'll take that compliment." He stated, grinning wildly as the old man nodded to himself. "But it's interesting that we'd run into a legend in this place, of all things."

The soft-spoken man who had earlier confronted her spoke up as well "There ain't no mistaking that face… Silvers Rayleigh, the Dark King. Better known as the Right Hand of the Pirate King."

* * *

Not much to say here other than the fact I still require a beta and am deathly bored. On the bright side, downside, whichever way you look at it, more of Demetra's reality will be brought into play next chapter. So please drop off any comments and tootles! ^^

-Kagetaka


	8. The Dreamer's Reality

Good grief, I'm going to fall behind at this rate. I'm set to go off on an 'Asian Adventure' as dubbed by my friends today so I'll just throw this out there.

Wolfsmond: No problem. It kills time, and people benefit. Thanks for reviewing again!

Dancing Nightmare: It was kinda. . And I basically despise everyone except the pirates and slaves that showed up in the auction house and couldn't resist still coming up for a reason to make them run like the bunch of cowards they are... hahaha. Anyhow, I'm glad you enjoy the Killer/Kidd moments. Thanks for reading and reviewing! ^^

Irenia: Reality as in Demetra's world. :P As for my need for a beta, with me spilling out a new chapter every 1-2 days (seriously thinking of making that 3), I'm bound to never have enough time to thoroughly look over my grammar and spelling. So I thought I could use someone's help with that. Thanks for reviewing!

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**The Dreamer's Reality**

The old man, Rayleigh, threw his head back and laughed throatily as the three crews looked on. "Ah, yes. That'd be me, unfortunately. Although if I were you, I wouldn't be throwing that name around so casually, it would make a greater hassle for me." His coal black eyes went from Kidd to the other man, and then to Luffy and he nodded to himself again. "Straw Hat Luffy, Eustass "Captain" Kidd, and the Surgeon of Death, Trafalgar Law. My, we have quite the assortment here." Rayleigh said to himself wisely. "You may all call me Ray-san."

Before either captain could speak again, a collective surprise shout arose from the Straw-Hat crew. "_You're_ Ray-san?"

"Ah, so you've heard of me?"

"Yeah! We've got business with you too, Ray-ossan!" Luffy crowed excitedly. "Shakky-baasan said you were a coating mechanic now!"

'Ray-san' stroked his complicated looking beard and smiled to himself "Oho, so Shakky's still alive and kicking! I'll have to pay her a visit soon." Then a glimmer of recognization shone in his eyes as he laid eyes on the strangely pink-skinned man with spiky hair and grinned. "Hachi! Hachi, you're here too?

"Nyuu… I think the question is, what are _you_ doing in a human auction shop?" The man replied, seemingly equally surprised to see Ray-san.

"Ohoho! I think the questions should wait till later then. No doubt the marines will be here." The Dark King said, waving away the questioning looks of the Straw-Hat Pirates. "I won't be using any more of that 'power' I just used, so it's all up to you to clear the path." The old man said, laughing again. Demetra could help but wonder how this man could have ever earned the title of 'Dark King' with such a jovial attitude.

"I ain't sticking around to fight it out with an admiral." He said darkly, visibly daring the other pirates in the house to call him a coward. But no one appeared much to be in a suicidal mood, much to Kidd's disappointment. "But, I'm in a generous mood." He added, smirking as he turned on the heel of his boots. The rest of the crew was already waiting stoically at the double doors for their captain to rejoin them. "I'll save your guys' asses and clear out the front for you."

Several seconds passed and his face split into a wider grin when he heard the insult sink in and both Trafalgar and Straw-Hat had leapt to their feet, their shoes slapping against the paved flooring and echoing around the emptied building as they strode up the stairs with equally offended scowls painted across their faces. The common expression was: Know thy enemy. And what better way to do it than by fighting alongside them against a hapless bunch of fodder just waiting outside for the picking?

"Hang back." Kidd murmured as he passed between his crew. "And stop the other crews from interfering." Killer gave an imperceptible nod as the other two captains caught up and the three of them passed through together and vanished out of sight.

But unseen to all, Demetra took her chances. With the agility of a cat, the raven-haired girl nimbly dodged under Killer's arms and crossed under the archway of the door, trying to ensure that the sound of her footsteps would not be detected by the man who could hear her. It was a risk on her part but something big was about to happen and she couldn't miss out. It was almost like watching Saber and the other nine again while she hung back with the bandages and soothing words and the occasional pole when some moron decided that the scrawny looking girl in the back would be easy pickings.

There was little she could do for either side, she knew, as she carefully trailed the three captains into the broad sunlight and away from the stifling darkness of the auction house. Law hesitated and tilted his head back slightly as he gave her a questioning look but said nothing as Luffy and Kidd stopped on the stairs of the auction house.

Fifty or so marines stood surrounding the front of the auction house, all wielding rifles and swords, but the most impressive thing in their arsenal had to be the three mortars placed at the front of the forces, their ends facing directly at each captain emerging from the shadows. The troops themselves suddenly did not appear so confident when they realized exactly whom their opponents were.

"Shit… we're fucked." One of the marines whispered, grasping his rifle tightly.

The fight was so one-sided; she was almost compelled out of pity to whack Kidd over the head to distract him for several seconds in order to give the hapless, bumbling marines a fighting chance but in the end, decided against it for two reasons. One, no doubt the enraged captain would not appreciate the gesture, and would take the opportunity to end her life right then and there. Crazy and _unique_ as she was, Demetra was anything but suicidal. Secondly, nothing, not even the three captains being handcuffed or tied together, could have given the marines a snowball's chance in hell of winning.

Instead, she wisely edged away from the fight and watched from a safe zone. Like she always had. The first to slide into action was the Straw-Hat boy, who once again defied all the logic of nature and stretched his limbs into a flurry of fists raining upon the attacking marines. Then without warning, his entire body simply… _inflated_… into a giant balloon as he took a single cannon ball to the gut. True to his nature, the ball was instantly propelled back with equal force and the rubber boy returned to normal, completely unscathed.

On the rightmost side, Trafalgar Law was showing a terrifying, yet comical brutality that made Demetra want to laugh and cry out in shock as he summoned a strange bubble out of nowhere, capturing a single marine within the circle, then promptly beheaded him. With a single word, "Shambles" and a twitch of his tattooed fingers, the cannon ball that had been heading in a direct path for his head was suddenly switched around with the marine's decapitated head, which was surprisingly completely devoid of blood. Law caught the severed, _yelling_, head with a soft grin, as if he were challenging the marines to rush him.

And _now_ things were starting to add up about Kidd's powers. Lazily, the red-haired captain raised his right hand and leveled it at the oncoming cannon ball as if he were about to catch it. "Repel!" And just as quickly as it had been flying his way, it was suddenly being flung with equal force right back at the mortar and the marines surrounding it, who were all simply too dumbfounded by the showy displays of power occurring all around them to dodge or retreat.

And yet, despite the fact his forces were being completely decimated by the three powerhouses glaring them down, the Commodore still had the guts to yell threats and insults. "D-Don't even think about escaping! An admiral will be right on his way, damned rookies!" He snarled, then flung his gun into the air and aimed at Kidd. "Charge!"

With a mighty roar, the rest of the marines drew their swords and began to rush the three solitary figures on the steps but before they could even take three steps, all their weapons, swords, daggers, pistols, rifles, and even the three impressive mortars were being tugged through the air, walloping unsuspecting heads as they flew by. Those who were not panicking over the sudden loss of their weapons cried out in shock when they suddenly found themselves trapped by the strange circle Law had created earlier.

Piece by piece, all the accumulated junk began to fling themselves onto Kidd's left arm, steadily growing bulkier and bulkier as metal continued to follow the call of his magnetic fields. Sadly, this too, appeared to include the metal staff she was clinging onto.

"Hey!" She yelped aloud as the metal, made slippery from her sweat, almost escaped her grasp. Hastily she slammed both feet deep into the ground and threw all her weight backwards. But it wasn't enough. Even though she had both hands firmly clamped down on the pipe, her heels were slowly being dragged towards the giant metal arm he was building. "Goddamnit, you're a right bastard, you know that?" Demetra growled struggling to resist his magnetic pull.

Unaware of the distress he was causing, Kidd noticed Luffy sticking his right thumb into his mouth and blowing as hard as he could. The arm began to slowly inflate until Luffy too, had a giant sized arm raised above his head. For the smallest second, Luffy too, peered from the corner of his eye and the two met gazes, before sharing a simultaneous nod. The straw-hat captain then wound his fist back while the other captain abruptly redirected the fields he had created and with a roar, the two combined their might and drove their fists through rank after rank of marines, sending bodies flying like bowling pins. They had been too terrified of the giant limbs to even react until it was far too late.

It had been too late for Demetra to react as well when the sudden shift in the attractive fields Kidd had set up changed abruptly and sent her sprawling face-first into the soapy grass. Automatically she was on her knees spitting up the bitter taste of suds and resin while she vowed petty revenge against the unknowing captain who had been the source and scapegoat of her troubles since she first set foot in her dream world. With an inaudible snarl, Demetra stabbed the pole straight into the ground, watching dispassionately as the metal was coated by the soapy sap of the mangrove.

Unnoticed by her, the three crews had only begun to emerge from the auction house, scanning the remnants of the 'battle' disappointedly.

"D-Don't even think about running away!" The commodore screeched again as several of his men stumbled to their feet. "Fire on everyone except the fruit users!"

"As if that would really make a difference." The straw-hat's first mate grumbled nonchalantly as he yanked out one of his swords. But before he could even take a step forward, one of Killer's arm blades shot out into his path, threatening him with instant decapitation if he took another step, forcing Zoro to leapt back with a yell. "What the hell?" He glared at his only other fellow non-captain Supernova.

Killer would have gladly glared back as well if it were not for that fact he felt more like grimacing. The other first mate wouldn't be able to see it anyways. "Stay out of it." He snapped irately.

"What did you say?" Zoro snapped back. He had already reached for his second sword. "You want us to stand here while they shoot at us? You and what army?"

The other Kidd Pirates behind Killer bristled slightly, causing Sanji to drop into a casual stance preferred for his fighting style, Brook to reach for his cane-sword, and Nami to slowly inch her fingers towards her Clima-Tact. The other straw-hats were a little more discreet about their anxiety but they didn't let it show. Bepo took the opportunity to nudge the other Heart Pirates to the edge in order to prevent unnecessary losses in a skirmish that didn't involve them. Meanwhile, the masked man sighed. This was not going the way he had wanted it to go at all and unfortunately the hangover fiasco he had dealt with in the morning was not encouraging him to pull out both blades and launch himself at the swordsman as he wished to. But before either side could rectify the situation, a piercing shout rang through the air, causing Killer to swivel his head around to look for the source. Yet when he looked, no one was there.

"Aw, damnit!" Demetra shrieked, flailing wildly as she felt her entire body grow weightless. Unheard to all but herself, the scream of her alarm clock was ringing across the sky, echoing around the scene as her consciousness began to return to reality. The floor jerked out from beneath her feet and Demetra's eyes flew open as she jerked in bed, breathing heavily as she fisted her pillows. Her right palm bit into cold metal, and quickly, she dropped the metal pole as if it were scalding hot. With the ringing of the clock and metal striking wood still playing in her head, Demetra sat up and forced herself to look again.

One side of the pole was still dripping with the viscous liquid of mangrove sap while the other end was smeared with blood.

**--**

She'd carefully hidden the bloodstained, soap covered pole back into her closet and purposely rearranged her clothing around it so that it could not be seen. Her parents prying was not plausible, they'd never been concerned enough about what she did in her room, but Kyle was a whole new situation. He was young and naïve, armed with the dangerous teenage notion that he knew the world. Even she hadn't been exempt from that ridiculous idea and she'd taken to the streets with the rest of her friends because of that. He would instantly assume the worse of her, and Demetra wondered why she simply did not clean the pole off.

She found that she didn't want to. It was proof. Proof that showed she had entered her dreams and returned- _it wasn't a dream_. It was another world, perhaps another dimension itself that existed in another plane. But right now, that was even her main concern.

It was seven in the morning but Demetra shook the sleepiness from her eyes and roused herself with surprising vigor. Granted, she was exhausted, since her dream, no, alternate world consumed all her sleeping hours but Demetra knew exactly what she wanted to do now.

"Be back at 5!" Was all she got out of her mother when she pushed the screen door open, kicked on her shoes and made for the shed where the family kept their outdoors things.

Swiftly knocking the cobwebs and dust from her scooter, Demetra yanked it out from the shed and set it on the grass, eyeing it with a skeptical look. The hinges needed some oil and the wheels needed to be retightened but that was easily done. Wiping off the grease and dirt, Demetra pulled the handlebars upwards and pressed a foot on top of the board. Several experimental scoots later, she slammed a helmet on her hair and wrapped the long raven tresses into a pony tail.

"I'll be back at 12!" She called back, waving off her mother. "Noon." Demetra caught herself rephrasing, lest her mother think something shady of her. Although perhaps, a year ago, her assessment would have been absolutely on the mark.

From the corner of her eye, she spied Kyle gazing down at her suspiciously from his room window but pretended not to notice anyways. She had already made it strictly clear what she did was her business and if he had really given up on her, he would not interfere. With that thought snug in mind, she pulled onto the sidewalk and pumped her leg a couple of times to build up speed as she streaked down the sidewalk.

It only took her ten minutes to find the house she'd been looking for. Quickly, she slid her right foot back and braked to a gentle stop in front of the gates and folded the scooter up, tucking it under her arm as she rang the doorbell once and waited. A minute later, a girl emerged from the doors and strode purposefully down the path to the gates.

"Sylvia." Demetra greeted the brunette somberly, recalling that their final meeting had gone less than beautiful. The other girl stopped, her shoes clinking to a stop in front of the gates as they stared through the iron bars at each other.

For a moment, it seemed as if she would not respond and Demetra even feared that Sylvia would turn around and head back inside. Instead, the dark-eyed girl only continued to stare back as if she were looking at a total apparition rather than a person. "Demetra." She finally said, letting the words drip from her lips. "What do you want?" The girl asked, not unkindly as she toyed with a strand of hair, curling it around and around a finger.

"S…Saber. Do you have any idea where he might be?" She asked, as confidently as she could. The curl of Sylvia's lip was not a good sign, however. "Look! You guys don't know the entire story-"

"But I know Saber didn't come back to us after that night!" Sylvia suddenly cut her off sharply, catching the attention of the by passers. If it were not for the bars between them, Demetra knew the other girl would have gladly launched herself at her without an ounce of sympathy. Instead, the whitened knuckles clinging to the black metal told her everything. Sylvia was keeping the gates locked for her sake. "He left and just vanished." She murmured, in a slightly more subdued voice, although the tremors in her tightened fists were evident. "We went after other gangs, old clients, everyone. I haven't seen him at all. What the hell did you say to him that last night?" The brunette suddenly snarled, pressing against the bars as her blazing eyes demanded answers Demetra was hesitant to give.

The back of her eyelids were burning and Demetra knew that if Sylvia continued on her slandering rampage, she would soon break down. Therefore, while she was still in control, Demetra decided to speak. "Whatever I say now, you wouldn't believe me."

"Spill, you fucking coward." Sylvia taunted back, undaunted by her prey.

Her head jerked up sharply at the insult as her mind replayed the final night over and over again. Coward. _Coward_. The word rang again and again, except it had been her voice spitting out the two syllable word as if it were poison. "_Don't call me a coward, bitch!_" She snarled, drawing her hand back with a clear threat. Hell, she never fought even when things got tight for their group but she did know how to throw a proper punch. And she knew where it would hurt the most. "You know the fucking rules." Demetra spat, referring to the rules they had always gone by, the night codes of the streets. "Don't even think for a second that there's not another explanation in any situation!"

Wordlessly snarling, the other girl retreated a step or two, knowing personally exactly what an incensed Demetra could do when purposely provoked. "Well then, give me your other explanation as to why we found you screaming 'I quit' at the top of your lungs right in front of Saber!"

"Because he fucking asked me to!" She exploded, snatching at the bars now that the other girl had retreated. "Our _glorious _leader upped and decided to ditch us because we were too fucking good for the bloody streets! _He's_ the coward! He couldn't even work himself up to tell you why I quit! No! He had to bloody go and pin every. Last. Drop. Of. Blame. On. Me!" Demetra finished, panting as her sleep-deprived body trembled with a combination of exhaustion and adrenalin. "Happy now? You have your second explanation, now tell me the truth! Has _no one_ really seen Saber since that night?"

"How… wha… wh- damn…" Sylvia finally clamped down on her traitorous mouth and glared. After swallowing a couple times she finally managed to shake her head. "N-No. He didn't come back. And neither did you. I was one of the last ones to leave." The distraught girl grumbled darkly. "James and I. We were the last two, always meeting under our streetlight, waiting. Hoping. Everyone else just followed your example and took off. I gave up three months ago but James' still out there, I think. Why the sudden interest in a 'coward'?" She asked, suddenly suspicious.

"I miss him." She snapped sarcastically, rolling her eyes when Sylvia snarled some sort of incoherent reply back. "I have a problem and since we used to be worth something to each other, I thought Saber might be able to help! Good fucking old times, you know?"

Wordlessly, Sylvia turned on her heel and flung the door to her house open and left it swinging as she went back inside. With just about as much patience as a certain red-haired pirate captain she knew, Demetra set the scooter on the ground and forced herself not to simply leave out of spite. But minutes later, she was rewarded with the clipped sounds of Sylvia returning to the gate. Without another word, her former friend shoved a wad of paper into her hands and gave her a terse nod before going back inside, this time, slamming the door with a click.

But the message was as clear as if Sylvia had chosen to scream it out loud. _Don't come back, and don't think for a moment I believe you_.

Silently, she pried the scooter open and un-crumpled the piece of paper, giving it a once over glance before pocketing the crudely sketched map and kicking off once more. "Damn you, Sylvia…" Demetra grumbled wordlessly as she swerved past several pedestrians carefully. "Clever little worm. None of you have _seen _Saber, but you sure as hell knew where he went, dirty bunch of liars."

--

It was already eight when she finally set wheel into downtown, well aware that even in broad daylight, it was not a place to be trusted. But this wasn't even the most dangerous part of town yet, which, according to the paper Sylvia had handed her, was her destination. For a second, she had harbored the notion that Sylvia had sent her here to somehow get her killed off, or perhaps, landed in an accident of sorts. And what Saber would be doing in the worst parts of town was beyond her comprehension. Hadn't he been the one to break them all up simply because he believed they were better than all of that shit they left behind?

Demetra turned her front wheel and finally braked in front of a small alley, cursing Sylvia and her map. "Alright, go down the fucking alley and get past a literal den of wolves, come out on the other side, hopefully alive, and find myself in the junkyard with Saber. Great. Let's do it." She grumbled to herself, reaching into her pocket and withdrawing a small knife. Hopefully it was one weapon she wouldn't have to use, especially since it was daytime, but one could never be too careful in a place like this.

Several deft movements caused a secret compartment to spring open from beneath her scooter and she took the pieces of her metal pole out and quickly reconstructed it. One end was still covered in soap sap and the other was smeared with the blood of the disgusting noble. The soap, she could have washed off but the blood added to the intimidation factor.

With the pole in one hand, Demetra chose to pocket the knife and grab the handles again and thrust off between the narrow walls. It was much, much to her immense relief that gangs were not heavily active during the day in this city. The police must have upped their patrol schedule and not a single unnatural shadow as seen as she quickly rolled through the alley, unrelenting in her speed as she pushed through the musky stink of the alley. Beer, smoke, fire, everything that reeked of night life was etched permanently into the blackened walls but none of this was new to her. But the walls had never loomed above her so ominously as this. For some reason it seemed as if the world itself had been transformed into nothing but two brick walls and a small shaft of light on the other side.

When she emerged from the other side, Demetra realized what she was missing. The other ten, trailing ahead of her with, some running, others on boards, always present in front of her eyes. She looked back, half-expecting someone but knowing no one would be there. The alley was empty.

--

Her footsteps were heavy against the jumble of discarded goods beneath her. Cans, bottles, paper, all browning, littered the path to her destination but Demetra could have honestly cared less about the stench and the fact that she would smell like anything but a rose garden when she left.

Something caught onto her foot, almost sending her flying into a pile of what looked to be formerly food- now covered in fuzzy blue mold and Demetra held back a shudder. That was _not_ what she wanted to be covered in when she managed to get home. Gingerly, she stepped to the side and reached for her entangled leg. A useless car door lay at her feet, a part of the cracked plastic having grabbed onto her pants. Wrenching it away from her and kicking it down the hill, Demetra trudged on, ignoring the snapping and crackling beneath each step she took.

After what seemed like forever, Demetra almost wanted to cry in joy when her foot hit dirt again. Already her jeans would need patching and her shoes washing, but either way, she was almost there and if Sylvia wanted to keep her head, Saber would be found.

Not exactly watching her step any longer, Demetra was literally jerked back into reality when a wire jutting out from the ground snagged onto her already ruined jeans and sent her sprawling into the mud. The last thing she knew was a white hot blinding pain behind her eyes as she blacked out.

* * *

So yeah, I know Zoro wasn't literally yanked on by his swords when Kidd began his whole DF power thing but Demetra's in a much closer vicinity to Kidd and not to mention, alot weaker. Anywho, Demetra only wishes she can stay in her reality but alas, one can only get so close to success...

Anywho, thanks for reading and comments are always appreciated. Flames will be used as amusement in this very boring summer....


	9. The Dreamer, Acknowledged

SuddenEclipse: Lol, yeah. But at least she's finally figured out now that steel is not the way to go in terms of Kidd. She'll have learned her lesson now, if it's not too late for her. Thanks for reading and revewing!

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**The Dreamer, Acknowledged**

Demetra breathed in and out shakily, trying uselessly to ignore the pounding in her head and chest. Her heart was literally doing back flips, rattling her labored breathing. Unable to think clearly at all, it only took Demetra several minutes of lying on hard ground to realize that the air she was breathing in was _salty_, instead of smelly. Her fingers twitched against the ground which, to her utmost chagrin, was not dirt or trash, but hard wood flooring. Much like the deck of a…

"Pirate ship…" She moaned aloud, not really caring if Killer was around to hear her complaints. It wasn't like he could touch her anyways. "Agh, why, why, why, why, WHY ME?" The last two words were emphasized so strongly Demetra spent several moments recovering from the sudden strain her heart had placed on her body.

Luckily, the cool metal of her metal pipe was still present in her hand and the weight of her pocket knife assured her only somewhat. After the display Kidd had shown at the auction house, she knew better than to assume she could actually harm him with steel alone. Maybe if she managed to catch him with his guard down- that is, assuming if she ever needed to defend herself against him…

When her heartbeat returned to its normal pace, Demetra finally found the courage to pull herself into a sitting position and out of habit, checked the occupants of the deck. Once more, it seemed as if the usual bored crewmembers were milling around deck, looking completely indifferent as they ambled about. The ship was still docked at Sabaody. In fact, given the sun's position, it seemed as if not much time had passed at all between the auction house incidents to the present.

Quietly, she slipped down the gangplank and dodged right through the guard, quite confident by now he did not possess any ability to sense or detect her presence whatsoever. Setting foot on soapy ground, Demetra carefully made her way down the worn out path.

But before she could set foot on the route to Main Street, something, something _big_, went off somewhere down the other path, rattling the mangrove tree to its very roots and knocking Demetra clean off her feet.

"Oof." She grunted, pulling back automatically, grimacing as she desperately rubbed at her face and eyes to remove the soapy sap from her person. "Agh, not again!"

With disgust, she flung the excess goop as far away from her as possibly before wiping the rest of it off on her sleeves. Stumbling to her feet and not exactly trusting the mangrove not to shake anymore, Demetra plunged her pole into the ground and proceeded on it, as if it were a walking stick.

_BOOM_! _FSSSSHHHH…!_ The ground lurched again but this time, Demetra clung onto her pole and rode out the waves of the mangrove's quivering. After the aftershocks wore off, Demetra still remained in place just in case it wasn't quite over yet. When it was safe, the raven-haired girl yanked out the pole and cautiously approached the scene. As the explosions and racket grew in volume, Demetra stopped at a safe distance away and squinted.

A familiar flash of red instantly captured her vision and she watched, enthralled as Kidd and Law leapt in opposite directions, but namely away from the laser beam that tore apart the ground they had been standing on seconds before. Oddly enough, instead of facing their enemy down together, both of them scowled at each other before engaging in what seemed to be an argument… in the middle of a serious battle. Incredibly overconfident, or at least, stupid of them.

Unable to resist her curiosity, Demetra cautiously crept closer to the battle, taking care to ensure she remained outside the boundaries of the actual fight. "What could they be arguing about at a time like this?" She hissed beneath her breath, stopping at the other side of the clearing.

"I fucking told you already, _stay out of my way_, Trafalgar!"

The other captain seemed equally miffed and dangerous as he raised a hand and a small halo of air began to rotate above his fingers. "And I've told you already so here's my last warning. _Don't order me around_!" This was said just in time before their attacker fired again and the two were forced to split again.

Meanwhile, the subordinate officers of both crews were less picky about their allies and Demetra watched in awe as the talking polar bear she'd seen leapt up and struck at the giant man in brown they were fighting, followed by another oversized man attempting to punch the enemy but in the end, both of them leapt back clutching their limbs as if they were broken. Automatically taking advantage of the enemy's temporary pause, Killer appeared in a flash above the man's head, dragging the point of his blades into the enemy's shoulder in an attempt to slow him down.

"Use that damned thick head of yours and think for once!" Indeed, Law seemed to be incredibly low on his usual patience as he tilted his head slightly to avoid another laser. It exploded somewhere behind him. Ignoring this, Law drew his giant sword and pointed it at Kidd. "You've chucked all your overgrown toys at him already and cutting him isn't working. Whatever this thing is, it's most certainly not human and NOT Bartholomew Kuma!"

However logical Law's words had been, the highest-bounty Supernova had stopped listening past 'overgrown toys' and chose to ignore Law instead. All the discarded weaponry laying scattered about from his last attack quivered as he beckoned to them yet again. This time, Demetra hadn't been expecting it, so the pole she had been clinging to as her only support went slipping from her sap-covered hands and joined up firmly with the rest.

"Oi, Shichibukai bastard! Eat this!" He snarled, directing one metal-laden arm towards the false Shichibukai. The metal was carefully pried off his arm until it merely surrounded the limb protectively in a bubble-like fashion. "Repel!"

Without a sound, the hovering steel went hurtling right into Kuma's broad chest. It went without saying such an unimpressive feat turned out to actually be quite powerful, especially since the seemingly indestructible Shichibukai went shooting into the air, completely out of sight.

Demetra slumped over with a disappointed sigh. "There goes my weapon." Luckily she still had a knife on her though. Small comfort that it was.

Another explosion rocked the mangrove and every person spared a glance towards the orange-red glow emanating over the archipelago. Then the earth gave a tremendous moan as the mangrove they stood upon began to violently rattle, causing the roots to literally tear from the ground. Something distant had just fallen, if the crushing noises weren't any indication. Quickly, Demetra let herself tumble to the ground and decided to lie low while the trembling continued.

"Da~mn." Killer had the grace to mutter as everyone felt a wave of heated air flooded the clearing. "Grove 2 just collapsed."

"It's an admiral's work, no doubt." The former slave, now pirate once again growled as he moved behind his captain again. "Captain, we should go."

Law didn't spare another second exchanging pleasantries with the other pirate captain, who was smirking victoriously over his stunt. But from a fellow pirate to another, he felt at least responsible to issue one last fair warning. "Yo, Eustass-ya." He called over his shoulder as he began to depart with the rest of the crew. "We'll be going off ahead. And if I were you, I'd stick to the original plan of hightailing it outta here too." With a final laugh, and before Kidd could turn his other metal-laden arm upon him, Law leapt down a small incline and vanished from sight with the rest of his crew.

After reorienting his whirling mind, Killer too, sheathed his blades when it seemed as if the Shichibukai wasn't going to come down in the vicinity. "We should go as well. Either way you look at it, every second spent on this archipelago gives an admiral another second to catch up to us." He remarked quietly, while the rest of the crew nodded. However, Kidd was still glaring off in the distance where Kuma had last disappeared into. "Oi! Drop it already, Kidd! We have to go!"

Finally, the captain tore his eyes away from the sky, the last bits of weapons and steel falling from his arm, and gave a jerky nod towards his first mate and the crew took this as their initiative to leave. Shakily, Demetra clambered back onto her feet and quickly made her way over to the discarded pile of steel first and grabbed at a gun, then remembering that she was still intangible when her hand flew right through the handle of a cutlass before she could reach the weapon of her choice.

"Perfect!" She snarled out loud, wishing that for once, something would go her way. Successfully racing through a gang-less alley didn't count. Fearfully, she chanced a glance over her shoulder to where the Kidd Pirates were departing and inhaled sharply when Killer froze in his tracks. _'Fuck, I screwed up again!'_ Abandoning the pile of weapons to their doom, Demetra flung herself over the refuse and slid down the same small incline she'd seen Law disappear under. Of course, the other Supernova and his crew were already out of sight, presumably on their way to a quick getaway.

"I'll catch up later, go on without me." Killer called back when Kidd shot him a questioning look.

Kidd sneered some sort of response but it was lost over the sounds of more explosions coming from the inland part of the archipelago. This alone, however, was enough to spur the rest of the crew into continuing without their first mate. Killer would have no problems catching up to them with his agility. As soon as they had vanished from sight, Demetra breathed a small sigh of relief.

The first instinct that popped up was the one she acted on. Demetra scrambled to her feet and made to run but before she even took two steps, Killer's voice rang loud and clear across the clearing.

"I know you're out there." He scowled, reattaching one of his blades and letting it whirl with a low purr. Something in his voice compelled her to stop and listen, accompanied with the fear that he would somehow successfully manage to sense and kill her with ease if she turned her back to him. "What are you…? Marine? Bounty hunter? No… you've had more than enough chances to decapitate and capture the entire crew. You're not after our bounties. What the hell do you want from us?" Killer demanded in a cold and dangerous voice.

Silence filled the air. For a moment, Killer believed their mysterious stalker had upped and vanished on him yet again. Perhaps the intimidation factor had not been a wise move. With a sigh, he removed his blade and made to shove it back in its proper sheath. When he sheathed his blade once more, Demetra finally decided to fall back on her inexistence and opened her mouth, praying that this man was in a listening mood and not a killing mood.

"Nothing."

His heart jumped as a clearly feminine voice answered his question from the direction where the Heart Pirates had vanished into, and Killer took several deep breaths to calm himself down. Finally he was getting somewhere with this business! Never mind the fact whoever it was, was still invisible and completely undetectable, aside from her voice. '_Alright. Talk first, possibly kill later. Find out what she wants with us._' He thought, dropping his hands as casually as he could in the presence of a possible threat. "Nothing?" He pressed, looking deceptively calm. "Alright, then how about we talk about something else." _'Think, think… get her to spill something about herself. Weaknesses, why I can only hear her…' _This, he decided, was a very good question, and perhaps it would ease his mysterious guest into the conversation slowly, unless the reason behind her 'abilities' was a secret. "Only I can hear you. Why?" Killer put out bluntly.

Meanwhile, Demetra was panicking on a higher scale than Killer. '_Oh god. Why did I open my fat mouth? I swear something's not right with me today. I should have shut up and pretended to disappear. Now what? What can I say to him? 'Hi, I'm a girl from the real world and you're nothing but a possible figment of my dream?' Or maybe 'Hi, I'm a dimension-jumper and it just so happens that every time I go to sleep, I show up on your ship! By the way, I've been stalking you for a little over a month now…' _Mentally, she crossed out each of these preposterous suggestions here mind was unhelpfully supplying for her while she racked her brains for something to say.

"I know you're still there." Killer finally called out impatiently. "You reek. And your heart's practically leaping."

"Well _excuse me_ for knocking myself out in a garbage dump!" Demetra growled indignantly, clamping down on her traitorous mouth a moment too late.

Killer raised an eyebrow at the random statement but filed it away as another piece of information about their invisible follower.

Deciding that no harm had been done, she continued hesitantly. "I don't know why you can hear me. Most people can't sense my existence at all." She remarked, trying to steer the conversation away from her attitude.

"Your 'existence'…" Another wave of heat washed over the final two in the clearing and Killer was only vaguely aware that another explosion had completely mutilated the remains of Grove 2. "What are you then? A ghost? A Klabautermann, perhaps?" The last one was so ridiculous, even Killer had to snort at the very idea.

Demetra laughed shakily with him. The whole idea itself was absurd, but if he was going to offer suggestions of what she was supposed to be, who was she to refuse? "Something like that, I guess."

"Yet Kidd was able to grab a hold of you… and you were able to retaliate with him likewise. Very effectively too, I'd like to add. No, you're not a ghost then." He concluded with a hint of amusement in his voice as he recalled his captain's blisteringly hot attitude that very day. "We've come to the conclusion that you affect the senses differently, at least, that's what we believe. Is it a devil fruit power?"

"I have no idea what a 'devil fruit' is." Demetra replied honestly, suddenly getting a feeling in the pit of her stomach to beware of the deceptively casual man before her. "But even if you can hear me, w-what are you going to do about it?" She stammered, unwilling to believe her ears as her mouth ran off on its own. Fear was making her say unnecessary things that this man most certainly did not need to hear or know!

This wasn't a bluff and he knew it. If he could hear her, he most certainly couldn't touch her at all. Only Kidd had the ability to do so and even then, without prompting or at least an accident of some sort, he wouldn't be able to attack what he couldn't see, hear, or sense. But Kidd could and would injure, if not completely decapitate this little whelp if she could be found. And he would be all too happy to help.

With all of this in mind, Killer grinned viciously behind his mask. "My captain and I, there's a reason why we're among the Supernova-"

"-The what?"

His sadistic mood was instantly ruined by the impudent girl's apparent cluelessness and he narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "Don't play around with me!" He snapped, taking a step towards the direction of the bodiless voice, temporarily forgetting he was trying to draw information from the girl instead of frightening her into fleeing like last time. "The Eleven Supernovae!"

She took another step back and seriously considered bolting but her legs were paralyzed stiffly where they were. Little half-truths were only sinking her ship more rapidly than she wanted. Perhaps they would have worked, had she been a true resident of the world they were standing in. "Um, no. Rings no bells."

"Do you live under a rock?" He questioned flatly, still refusing to acknowledge his ears. That her heartbeat hadn't sped up exponentially indicated she wasn't lying. His senses rarely ever betrayed him but ever since he had first encountered the strange girl, they had never been consistent around her. How could she not know the eleven most talked-about people on the newspapers and even across the television?

"No, I-" She began angrily, grateful for the sudden distraction. Now she could take the opportunity to reorganize her thoughts and regain control over her traitorous mouth and legs. But before she could open her mouth and continue to rant, her vision went completely yellow. Bright, bright, burning yellow.

The light was scalding, and it didn't discriminate whose eyes it hit, leaving Demetra stumbling in place, clutching at her burning, watery eyes. Vaguely, through her jumbled up senses, she could hear Killer's blades flip out with a metallic clang, followed by a shout and a grunt of pain. Slowly, the light itself began to die down but Demetra still blinked rapidly, trying to see through the spots blinding her vision. Soon, she was able to squint and saw that someone else had joined them in the clearing.

A tall man with a moderate number of wrinkles on his face, wearing yellow pinstripe as well as a long marine coat stood pompously in the center of the remnants of the battle with the Shichibukai and struggling against his hold and pressed none too gently against a rock was Killer.

"Oh fuck." He managed between pants, taking one or two useless swipes at the newcomer. The blades swept through the lanky man's arms and the cloth and flesh split and reformed with a flash of light. "K-Kizaru…"

There was no doubt in her mind that the newcomer that stood before her, effortlessly pinning Killer to the ground and absorbing his futile efforts was someone to be feared among the marine ranks. But the question of concern was, was he able to detect her in any form? Demetra wasn't certain she wanted to test him in any way or manner, especially since he had such a man like Killer beaten in a single move.

"Massacre Soldier, Killer…" The man responded in kind, removing his hand and placing a foot on Killer's chest, holding him down even firmly than before. "Congratulations on making it this far with your captain. However, it ends here for you… but first. Where is the rest of your crew…?"

"Like hell I'll-" The heel of Kizaru's shoe dug painfully between his ribs and Killer cut himself off gasping in pain. "G-go fuck yourself!" He cursed. Had the girl only been a diversion to hold him back? But right now, it was too late to curse his inattentiveness.

"Geez, that's so rude." The admiral seemed to mumble to himself. "All I did was ask you a question. Hmmm…" He trailed off, looking down the path Demetra had seen the Kidd Pirates going down. "By the way, I seem to have misplaced my subordinate. Have you seen a man named Sentomaru around here?"

"What?" If it were not for the fact this man was a logia and his threat was currently very real, Killer would have questioned Kizaru's soundness of mind. "I'm a pirate. Why the hell would I be associating with a _marine_?" He snapped irritably, wincing as the man placed more pressure on his sternum. "Urgh…all I did was answer your fucking question!"

"Oh." The marine admiral looked like he'd been quite put-off. Killer breathed again when Kizaru removed some of the pressure. "Well I could have sworn I heard you talking with someone around here but there doesn't seem to be anyone." Kizaru scanned the clearing quickly yet again, and finding no one, he shook his head. "Well, I'll finish up here real quickly then and see if I can find anyone else…" Here, he drew his hands together, as if he were in prayer, then pulled them apart and Demetra gasped inaudibly. A shaft of pure light was streaming between his hands, the bottom half morphing into a sword hilt. "Ama no Murakumo."

Slowly, he removed his foot from Killer's chest and didn't seem surprised at all when the masked man nimbly leapt to his feet and took off in an unpredictable zig-zag pattern. Killer wasn't stupid. He was confident, logical, and reasonable when not provoked but he certainly, above all things, wasn't stupid. Against Kizaru, he might as well have simply gone cliff diving without a rope.

It was all for naught. Kizaru suddenly glowed and became pure light, phasing away from his original location and slamming a foot directly into Killer's stomach.

The masked man doubled over in pain as the admiral relentlessly dealt him another fierce kick, returning him to the ground. He could feel the slick warmness of blood trickling from his mouth but said nothing, opting to return to his feet as gracefully as he could.

"You're powerful…" He acknowledged shakily, clutching his bruised stomach.

The admiral only raised his sword of light in response, eyeing Killer as anyone else would have for a wounded animal. "I'll ask again and if you give me the right answers, maybe I'll be merciful. Where is your captain?"

"Go to hell!"

She didn't wait around to see whether or not the marine admiral had any ounce of mercy in his body at all. Demetra was off like a rocket, fleeing down the path she'd seen Kidd and the rest of his crew take. Certainly she was the farthest thing from friends with Killer and they were hardly even associates, but it had been her fault he'd been held up and was now at the mercy of some admiral with a flashy light saber. If only he had gone with the rest of his crew… if only she hadn't been so frustrated. Light as she was, she was extremely quick on her feet and she proved it by sliding down slopes and inclines rather than waste time stumbling down them.

There was a worn out path laid out before her eyes. Obviously many people had once used this road long ago but she was grateful for it now. Her ankle protested- she had, after all, got it caught when she'd stumbled and fallen in the junkyard. But Demetra pressed on, relentlessly working her body to its limits. What happened in mere minutes seemed like hours to Demetra. Finally, she saw her flash of hope.

_There_. A flicker of red among the people surrounding him. "H-Hey!" She called out, panting as she stopped a fair distance away from the Kidd Pirates. "Can anyone hear me?" Demetra practically screamed, trying to catch their attentions.

None of this incited any reaction whatsoever. They were deaf to her and blind to her existence. Demetra blinked rapidly, before realizing with some chagrin that she was tearing up. The familiar burning sensation behind her eyelids indicated that if she did not reign in her emotions, she would soon burst into tears. But…it was her fault, someone was going to get hurt and possibly die. If only she hadn't been so clumsy in the junkyard…! Or perhaps, if she had gone with her original plans and remained quiet when Killer first spoke to her.

"_Listen to me!_" She cried out, throwing caution to the wind and racing after them. "He's back there… god… he needs your guys' help! Listen to me, damnit! I'm right here!" When had her hands balled into fists? Demetra was barely aware that her nails were beginning to dig red crescents into her palms due to the pressure on her mind and conscience. "Morons! Killer's in danger! You have to- you have to go back!" She croaked.

The darker, more experienced side of her whispered traitorous thoughts to her that these pirates already knew of the danger and would not bother returning to retrieve one of their own. They were pirates. Why would they? On the seas, it was practically every man or woman for themselves. None of these 'scum' would bother risking their hides to save their own. But… it wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. They didn't seem to be like those kinds of people. These pirates looked out for their own, they wouldn't abandon Killer if they knew what sort of danger he was in. Another explosion rocked the grove they were standing on and Kidd jerked around in surprise.

"Fuck… that was too close." He murmured, suddenly looking concerned. "What is it this time?"

"Who knows. Maybe the Shichibukai again?" The zombie-like man responded. "There's a lot going on back there, boss…"

"An admiral, damnit!" Demetra howled, losing it. "There's an admiral back there and he's going to kill your first mate if you don't help him! Go back! Goddamnit, go back!"

Even if she were killed by the temperamental pirate captain, she owed it to the man to try her damned best to save his life. Everything was her fault. From the beating of the Tenryuubito Charlos, from the admiral coming, to all the danger these pirates had been placed in, especially the masked man. She was guilty. She was to blame. Even if they were nothing but common criminals, they were also as human as she was and she could not condemn them for something she'd touched upon herself.

"G-go… back…" Hot, blinding tears had begun their agonizingly slow path down her face. Demetra shut her eyes solemnly and breathed in and out.

No one could see her. No one could hear her pleas and warnings. She didn't exist. Even Kidd turned back towards his original path and continued on with the others. All of their backs turned towards her and towards Killer, ignorant of the true danger behind them, toying with their first mate and ready to continue the hunt for their blood.

Never. Never had Demetra felt such raw pain. Or was it really pain? It was more like a gnawing, clawing feeling deep in her being. And it was slowly destroying her from the inside out. She was going to be a murderer. His blood would stain _her_ hands, even if she didn't lift a gun to end his life. All her foolishness had come down to this. Killer was going to die, and every particle of blame could be traced back to her.

The world was not a toy, but she had deigned to treat it as such and now the people she journeyed with were going to pay the price. It was all too much, her head still throbbed from where she had knocked herself out and her ankle was still sore despite having been run on and everything. But Demetra didn't care anymore. Instead, she took a straight run, directly towards Kidd and swung herself directly into his path.

And before she could even reconsider the consequences of her actions, her hands, of their own volition, reached out desperately for the last shred of hope that she and Killer shared and her fingers urgently clasped around Kidd's finely manicured ones and she tugged while screaming with all her might, glaring desperately into those molten red irises that could not see her.

"_Listen to me,_ _you goddamned son of a bitch!_"

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And next begins my most favorite part. .

Comments are always appreciated, thanks for reading, peoplez!

-Kagetaka


	10. The Dreamer's Existence

**Wolfsmond: **Sigh... I've yet to come to a decision on that aspect of her spiriting away. But if I were to answer that, I'd say that her body more or less stays where it is and its only her mind that exists in the OP world. I'll play with that idea a little more if it ever gets any more significant. ^^ Hehe, I'm glad you liked Chapter Eight. Can you believe I was on the edge of my seat when I was typing it? Thanks for reading and reviewing, anywho!

**SuddenEclipse: **Do both, plz. Hahaha, true. I highly doubt that the Kidd Pirates would fare any better than anyone else against Kizaru but Demetra has her uses and her set of morals that make her act completely unrationally for her own health. As evidenced when she grabs Kidd's hand. . Thank you once again for reviewing.

**ImmortalMelody: **That, she does. Unfortunate for pirates but sure as hell funny. Thanks for dropping by again!

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**Chapter Nine**

**The Dreamer's Existence**

"_Listen to me,_ _you goddamned son of a bitch!_"

Someone's hand suddenly wrapped around his own and at the exact same moment the scathing, yet pleading words were literally screamed, Eustass Kidd found himself at a complete loss of words as he started into the two darkest pools of wild desperation, sorrow, and guilt he'd ever seen. Apparently the others had noticed too. Some strange girl had just appeared from thin air screaming obscenities at their captain while _holding his hand_. Someone had a very clear death wish. For that matter, there seemed to be a lot of those people around, lately.

But the girl seemed completely unaware of the fact she had become visible and only continued on. "It's Killer… there's an admiral. I think he's going to kill him! Why can't you sodding morons hear me?" She continued, obviously completely distraught. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! I'm so stupid! Help him, damnit! Get your asses back there and help him!"

Somehow, the shock of having a clearly hysterical girl suddenly flicker into existence before him overruled any anger he ought to have felt over her insults, the physical contact, and screaming. Distantly, she resembled a wraith, with her long silky dark hair flying everywhere wildly and her teary, crazed eyes pinning his down effortlessly. She was also amazingly pale, even more so than he was. Combined with the feature of her raven-black hair and eyes, the girl seemed almost inhumane, more like some sort of poltergeist or vengeful ghost.

Under normal circumstances… no, scratch that. Now was a time filled of everything but normalcy. Kidd looked over his shoulder helplessly at his crewmates who merely shrugged cluelessly in response. Sobbing, delirious, hysterical, ghostly girls popping out of nowhere could not be a good thing. And what did she have to do with Killer of all people?

"What about Killer-san?" The zombie-like man finally broke the silence, occasionally punctuated by her sniffling, as politely as he could.

Demetra jerked up, her large teary eyes widening in surprise when she realized every person in the clearing had their eyes on her. They were all staring straight at her, seeing her for the first time in months. None of them had the distant look in their eyes that reminded her every waking day of her dreams that she was invisible to all.

Then she whipped around to face the zombie man and her free hand flew to her mouth. "Y-You can see me. And hear me?" Something in her voice seemed far too overly hopeful.

Heat rushed through Kidd's face when he realized exactly what the girl was implying and his hand had gone automatically to his dagger. Before the impudent girl could escape, he turned the tables on her and clamped down firmly on her hand while drawing the dagger with the other. "You! You're the one who kicked me-"

"Y-yeah… that was m-me. You can kill me later though." She interrupted, looking oddly jubilant for someone who had just lost their cover in the midst of her to-be murders.

Twirling the blade between his fingers and letting in hover menacingly in his hand, Kidd narrowed his eyes angrily. "I'm not a very patient man, I'm afraid."

"B-because I- I…it's my fault." Demetra admitted quickly, blinking the tears of frustration from her eyes. She was far too shocked that for once, everyone had finally acknowledged every last inch of her existence. She _existed_. She was seen, heard and felt and none of this was stripped from her being. This alone was enough to bring forth a well of confidence, or at least, enough to ignore the spinning dagger in Kidd's hand. "I- I didn't mean to be heard, but Killer heard me anyways and stayed behind to try find out more about me but it took too long and an admiral showed up. H… he's back there still. Please, help him!"

"An admiral." Kidd repeated slowly, feeling the anger drain out of him, leaving him oddly empty to increasing helplessness. "An admiral… shit."

Slowly, he replaced the unused blade and took in the girl standing before him with grudging respect. Any lesser person would have keeled over at the mere sight of him and yet here, this wispy little ghost of a girl was tossing her life and cover away to warn him about an admiral. And _Killer _was fighting the admiral. He turned to look over his shoulder.

"Damnit. How are we going to pull this one off? Which admiral is it?" The red-haired captain fixated his glare back on the terribly fragile-looking girl captured in his hands. "Well?" he asked sharply, tightening his grip. Her wrist was so small, he could have broken it with just a little more pressure… but he stopped himself. Right now it wouldn't be worth it. She had the information he wanted. And what was her relation now to his first mate, anyways?

Demetra winced, but other than that, betrayed no sign of weakness. "He… he called himself Kizaru. Kind of an old guy wearing yellow all over."

"But what can we possibly do against an admiral, captain?" One of the unnamed underlings asked nervously. "We don't even know what he can do!"

"L-light." Demetra stammered, shrinking when Kidd returned to glaring at her. She didn't even know why he'd listened to her plea to kill her later when he had been so clearly eager to dismember her before. "He's some sort of light man."

"Shit, a logia-user." Kidd swore beneath his breath as another explosion rattled the grove they were standing on. "Killer…damnit, we should have just blown a hole right through the marines instead of sticking around…"

"Either way you think about it though," The pointy haired man remarked, giving Kidd a pointed look. "The admiral's not going to be carrying around every pirate he defeats. His job is to round up all pirates so I daresay he'll knock Killer out and leave him for the marines to pick up."

Still, this thought assured no one. "_Or_, given the fact that we're Supernovae, he'd find it more fit to kill rather than decapitate!"

This time his frustration was truly evident- especially noticed by Demetra, who had to bite down on her tongue to prevent herself from crying out when his grip on her increased exponentially. _'Shit…'_

"We won't be leaving Killer-san behind though. It's not an option." The zombie-like man interjected.

Everyone visibly flinched when another explosion went off, closer than before. "Goddamnit…" Kidd cursed again, knowing exactly what was going on. "Alright. The rest of you continue on and prepare the ship. I want her ready to set sail by the time we get back." He ordered firmly, ignoring the protests and concerned glances. A flicker of annoyance passed through him when he noticed the girl he'd captured was slowly turning transparent, although he could still feel the beat of her pulse in her wrist. She didn't seem to realize it either, that, or she was just a very good actor. But slowly, an idea was forming in his mind, one, that if successful, they would get out of fighting an admiral _and_ get Killer back.

"But captain-"

"_Do it_!" He snarled, in a tone that afforded no room for argument. "Run!"

Finally, the rest of the crew submitted to his orders and took off at a light run down the remainder of the path. Meanwhile, Demetra gasped a sigh of relief and felt her hammering heart begin to slow. The last thing she had to be nervous of now was the fact Kidd still had her firmly trapped to his grasp and even as he dragged her back down the path they'd come from, it didn't seem to be letting up. On the other hand, she would have never been able to live with the guilt had she left Killer by himself without a shred of hope.

"You're not going to get away by becoming invisible again." His voice broke her out of her internal reverie.

"I'm invisible again?" She looked down. "Damn. It's n-not like I-I can control it or a-anything." Demetra bemoaned, suddenly realizing that she was indeed, once again, invisible to Kidd. "Um… can you still hear me?"

"I can now." Came the terse reply. '_And I'm beginning to understand exactly how Killer feels, hearing voices from nowhere…' _Another explosion rocked the path and Kidd felt a sudden pressure in his arm, indicating the girl had just fallen over. "Get. Up. Now." He growled.

Unwilling to further anger the red-haired captain, Demetra scrambled to her feet as fast as she could and nearly fell over in the process. "S-sorry." She whispered meekly, but he didn't acknowledge her apology and instead, continued to drag her after him at a faster pace. Having used up all her energy before running to fetch them, Demetra could only stumble and slip after him.

Finally, when they were so close to the battle that they could literally feel wave after wave of heat generated from the light based attacks Kizaru was using, Kidd stopped, ducking behind a tree to quickly analyze the fight before leaping into it. "You helped get him into this mess. You're gonna help me get him out, girl." He growled, yanking her until she was almost nose to nose with him. "Before I kill you, that is."

Demetra gulped soundly, almost yelping when she found herself face to face with the fearsome pirate captain and settled for nodding her head rapidly, forgetting that she was once again invisible when he gave her an extra shake. "S-sure. But um… he can't see me." _'Well I could have sworn I heard you talking with someone around here but there doesn't seem to be anyone…'_ Kizaru's statement echoed in her mind. "B-but he can hear me. So that means I can't touch him either." And then again, the man before her now had the ability to touch and hear her. What was stopping the admiral from having the same ability? Nevertheless, she vowed not to find out.

Quickly, he snuck a look around the tree. "Sadistic bastard of an admiral…" He growled, drawing back. "There's no one on this archipelago that can go up against an admiral… and I'm not stupid enough to test that. But what he can't attack or see on the other hand…"

The raven haired girl visibly wilted at the suggestion. If everything was as simple as that, then she had gone and exposed herself to the Kidd Pirates for nothing. Yet another fatal mistake she'd made. How many more was she fated to make? No wonder she had never bore the qualities of a leader. "You seriously… can't do anything about him?" Demetra groaned, not even bothering to point at Kizaru. "Like, beat him up or something?"

"Are you stupid, trying to get me killed, or just out of your mind, damned girl? Didn't you just hear what I said?" The pirate captain bit back. "Do you know what a logia user is?"

Demetra hated these questions. Heavens knew they only got her into more trouble by admitting her ignorance. "Not really." She finally admitted, honestly.

"Stupid then. And yet you live on the Grand Line. Sabaody of all places." Kidd answered himself and rolled his eyes in disbelief. "All you have to know is that they can't be physically harmed unless they're completely not expecting an attack. But that's beyond the point here. You're going to go out, distract him, and I'll grab Killer. Got that? And if you do your fucking job well enough and everyone gets to keep their balls on, maybe I'll reconsider killing you."

"How do you know I won't run?" Demetra asked quietly, startled with the amount of responsibility this man who'd staked a claim on her life was shouldering on her.

A scowl flitted across his expression before his face twisted into his usual toothy smirk. "Because from the looks of it, you came streaking down the path like a screaming banshee, tossing tears everywhere like a damn sprinkler and insulted me to my face- all to catch my attention for my first mate. You're not just going to abandon him, are you?" Kidd sneered suddenly seeming a lot more intimidating even as he let go of her wrist and gave her a small push. "And make it snappy. He's in a bad shape out there." But the strange girl honestly did not need to know that it would take more than just blood loss to kill Killer. Still, a bit of urgency was required, and if she cared so much, then who was he to stop her?

Although he'd intended for the shove to be at least a jostle in his terms, he hadn't expected the thin and wispy girl to go flying at the mere nudge. _'Oops'_ He snickered, at least finding something small to be amused about in this entire disaster, leaning back as he heard her disgruntled cry.

This time, Demetra really did yelp as she landed sprawled ungracefully on her bottom. Then what she saw made her sore bottom seem like a mere pat on the head.

The masked man was still alive, no doubt, but the amount of blood he must have lost was spectacularly smeared and splattered all over the grass. Killer himself was clutching at a particularly nasty gash on his shoulder but there were many more that called for his attention. He barely appeared to be standing, instead, he had one of his blades entrenched into the ground to support himself.

Whatever blood on the tall elderly admiral was clearly not his own. However, Kizaru seemed not a bit concerned about the state of his clothing. Instead, he was gazing over at the spot where Demetra sat rubbing her legs. "Hmmm? Who was that?"

In a panic, she drove her hand into her pockets and pulled out the pocket knife. Oh, she knew it was going to be useless against this man but at least it gave her a sense of twisted confidence. Something she desperately wanted to have right now. Her eyes were solely focused the tall admiral who tilted his head slowly towards her. A small click and the knife was set snugly in her palm.

"S-stay away from me." She stammered, taking a step sideways, away from Kidd and away from Killer, brandishing her small knife. Before she could react, however, a beam of light from Kizaru's finger shot directly through her body, burning the grass beneath her feet. Thank god for her intangibility. In the end, the only ability this man had was the ability to hear her and all his power and attacks meant absolutely nothing. "That won't work." Demetra declared, starting to pick up confidence. She had a knife in her hand, and for all his power and influence, this admiral who even Kidd feared, could do absolutely nothing to her. Finally, something was beginning to work her way today! This thought alone was enough for her to commence distraction. "You wanna know who beat up the Tenryuubito?" She asked mustering up a small taunt in her tone, skipping away down the opposite direction. Her eyes turned cold when she saw the state Killer was in once again. Finally his legs had simply given out and he was most likely unconscious from the blood loss. It just wasn't damn fair. "Cause I know who!"

Still, the admiral's expression did not change. "That was a dramatic change in attitude…" He mused to himself, creating another sword of light in his hands. Demetra didn't even have the opportunity to move before Kizaru had flashed over to where she was standing and swiped the sword diagonally through her head down to her shoulder. "A logia, perhaps?"

With confidence born from invulnerability and duty, Demetra broke off into a light run, leading him down the other path. Deciding that a little lie wouldn't hurt for once, she answered. "Damn straight, now see if you can fucking keep up, lousy admiral!" She called back over her shoulder, as she relived the memory of the dark streets where she had jeered, laughed and called out mocking taunts alongside her friends as they retreated, knowing they would not be followed.

Deciding that Killer would not get very far on his own or be able to escape should he even regain consciousness, Kizaru saw little harm in going after a new target who claimed to know who had committed the main crime anyways. "Hnnn… how very odd." Another beam of light flew through Demetra's head and the tree behind her collapsed in a glorious blaze of fire and light. "What an intriguing devil fruit you've eaten. I can't seem to sense you at all. Perhaps after I've detained you and when I find Sentomaru, he can introduce you to Dr. Vegapunk."

"Um, how about not." Demetra returned as she tore down the road, leading the admiral further and further away from the two pirates. "I really don't feel like becoming a science experiment." She said loudly. '_Come on, follow me a little further… just a little more…'_

"Really?" The man looked oddly disappointed again, but at the same time, managed to retain his uninterested look as he flickered and reappeared in front of Demetra. "A pity you won't be having a choice."

Really, what was he now, lord of the bloody island just because he couldn't be physically harmed? "You haven't caught me yet." She pointed out unhelpfully, scooting away from the admiral. "Try telling that to me again after you've managed to lay a finger on me!"

He'd followed her far enough from the clearing by now for Kidd to have safely reached Killer. But they would both need time to return to the ship, and until she was absolutely certain they were both safe, this man would not be rid of her presence. After all, there were more than enough ways to annoy someone with a disembodied voice alone.

The explosions were beginning to grow dimmer and dimmer into the distance, and Kidd finally relaxed his guard slightly. So in the end, he wouldn't have to try pull a miracle from the sea and attempt fighting an admiral after all. For all of his bounty and confidence, Kidd was pretty certain that was one battle he could not win, as he was now.

The thought was reassuring and it seemed as if the little whelp was successfully leading the admiral away from their direction on a wild goose chase. As long as she never had the misfortune of meeting him again in the New World, she would get to keep her miserable little life.

But first, he had business to attend to. There was no way in hell Killer was going to manage walking himself back to the ship. Darting around the tree and into the clearing where his first mate lay, Kidd quickly shifted his heavy coat slightly so that the spikes on his shoulders would not impale the unconscious man, and then slung Killer over his back.

"Fuck, you're heavier than last time." Kidd growled, starting back down the path with the smaller man in tow. "And you also have a hell of a lot of explaining to do when we get back."

As expected, his grousing went completely unnoticed. For once, he was grateful for that fact.

--

Demetra had to admit. Fighting- or at least, distracting an admiral, was _boring_. Whoever wrote the book for this world had obviously not anticipated outsiders whose existences were questionable. By now, she was merely making small talk with the admiral, who seemed rather more…_whimsical_ and scatterbrained than what she would have expected one of his rank to be like. Even now, he had stopped firing at her, seeing and hearing that nothing was really happening, and on the other hand, she had stopped ridiculing him and slowed into a small banter-like conversation. For all he knew, she could have easily been someone's projected voice. Furthermore, they had headed back into the deeper groves to continue fulfilling his orders from the Tenryuubito; the eradication of every pirate on the archipelago.

"You were just asking me if I knew who Sentomaru was." She helpfully supplied as Kizaru casually waved a finger at a foolishly attacking pirate, impaling him with a beam of light. Internally, she winced and the familiar sensation of sickness reappeared faintly in her stomach, but she knew now that they were beyond her help. The only thing she could do for anyone now was to keep the admiral partially distracted with her small talk so they would at least have a small chance of getting away.

"Oh, right." It was starting to come back to him now. "Hmm… well, do you?"

"Nope, sorry." Another beam of light flew over her head and knocked away a pirate who had been coming onto Kizaru. "You did mention he was your subordinate though."

"Did I?" The man looked puzzled, before shaking his head. Demetra mentally pumped her fist when she saw several pirates successfully slipping past them and disappearing into the alleys. "Oh yes. Such a cute little boy he was when he was younger."

Demetra looked up at the tall admiral in amazement. Then again, given the amount of wrinkles he had, it shouldn't have been too surprising. "Wait, wait. How old's this Sentomaru anyways?"

Kizaru made a show of thinking, scratching his head as he pondered back to the last birthday card he'd sent to the broad-axe wielding man, and finally shook his head. "I forgot."

Before she could voice her disbelief, Demetra noticed that something, or rather, someone, had caught the admiral's attention. He was a stern looking man with a perpetual frown on his face. Etched upon his brow were three elongated triangles for each eye. Long, well-kempt hair flowed down his back. But the thing that stuck out the most to Demetra was definitely his clothing, a strange blend of Middle-Age themes, altered slightly to permit more freedom than most clothing back then had allowed for. As well as the pack of cards he was shuffling, without a care in the world.

"Who's that?" She asked, out of reflex, before smacking herself mentally. She was forever bound to a bloody pirate ship of all things, for the rest of her dreaming nights. Engaging a marine admiral in friendly conversation should have been the last thing on her list of to-do's in this world.

Pausing a step away from the intricately dressed man, Kizaru stopped to watch the man draw several cards into one hand and placed the others away. Over the sounds of screaming and panicking civilians and pirates alike fleeing the scene, only this man, his shuffling, nervous crew behind him, Kizaru himself, and Demetra were left at the scene.

Instead of targeting the fleeing criminals, Kizaru only continued to observe the man. "Hmm… Basil Hawkins." He lifted one long finger, and instead of shooting the pirate on the spot as Demetra expected him to, instead, he reached up to scratch his hair. "Have you seen a man by the name of Sentomaru around here?"

A part of Demetra wanted to slap him silly. '_What. The. Hell. Is. This._'

Instead of answering the admiral's question, however, the man only gave his remaining cards a final shuffle, completely ignoring the threat before him. "Chances of defeat… 100%" Demetra winced with a trace of pity in her expression when she heard him suddenly speak. "Flight…12% chance of success." The enigmatic man tapped another card and it was suddenly lifted into the air in front of him by what seemed to be a long strand of straw. "Defend… 76% chance of success" Another card joined the other two and he held up the final one. "Death. 0%" All the cards lowered slightly as he looked up at Kizaru, who had been waiting patiently through the tarot card readings. "I know no man of that name. Please search elsewhere." Hawkins intoned.

Sighing in disappointment Kizaru shook his head regretfully. "Mou… and the Den Den Mushi still isn't responding. Oh well. It'll be boring to wait for Sentomaru to call me. And I can't very well leave any pirate un-captured on this archipelago now, can I?"

"Well, you could, but that would probably piss off the Tenryuubito." Demetra interjected in a falsely jovial voice while making shoo-shoo motions with her hands towards Hawkins. "So, what gives them the right to order you guys around anyways?"

The light that had been accumulating on Kizaru's leg slowed and dimmed back to its original state as the admiral was yet again easily distracted. "Hmm? You don't know the story of the twenty kings?"

"Can't be that great if there were twenty kings. All kings are good for are ordering people around and sending knights on perilous journeys to save their wayward daughters from dragons. Must have been an awful lot of dragons then. Is that where the Tenryuubito came from? I mean, their title means 'Celestial Dragon Beings' right?" Demetra rambled quickly. She was beginning to sound like a babbling moron! Still, the fortune-teller themed pirate had not moved from his place. He hadn't given any indication that he'd seen her but instead, he was completely focused on the admiral, who was apparently talking to himself. Maybe if she tried to thump him across the head to get him going… but Kizaru had already begun to answer her question.

"Oh no, there were no dragons actually. Tenryuubito are the descendants of the creators of the World Government, not from actual dragons." Kizaru, however, seemed amused at the idea.

Ah. More history, and even worse, it wasn't even history relevant to her world. She had only been an average student during her time in high school anyways. "I see." With a sigh, Demetra decided that her dying of sheer boredom was worth it if it was going to save other people's lives. "Soo… who descended from which king? When Tenryuubito marry, do they inbreed or do they pick 'worthy' wives? Oh, how about their bastard children, do they get the title of Tenryuubito? And what about…" One after another, she rattled off question after question, while bracing herself for an extremely dull afternoon on Sabaody Archipelago.

All in a day's work. Hopefully by the end of the day, more people would be saved than the amount of hairs she would pull out. Hopefully.

Demetra didn't think so.

* * *

Da~mn. This was difficult to write. A part of me kept nagging at me and asking me how in the world I was going to keep Kidd in character and have Demetra come out alive in her situation and how the hell I was going to unravel the bloody knot I made in the plot. . I think I did well though.

Thoughts, comments, etcs welcome, flames shall be stowed away in a flamethrower for later use.

Thanks for reading!

-Kagetaka


	11. The Dreamer's Argument

Kiseki Lin: Ah, a new reviewer! And I totally agree~! I do want to see more of Kidd, Killer, and the other Supernovae. You can't just introduce a bunch of awesome looking characters and do nothing about them!!! Thanks for the review, and I'll continue doing my best!

Wolfsmond: Whew... yeah, there's not much on their behavior or character at all. Right now I can only go off what I've got. . What all of us got. Which isn't much. But I fancy the challenge. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

: Geez... that was a long review! ^^ Another new reviewer. Thanks! Lol, I know, the cliche'd girl falls into OP and falls instantly in love with someone is overused. I'm trying my best to take that and make it different. And you bring up the theory behind her dream world and her reality at a very good time cause this is what this chapter's all about. Well, it's more of an idea of what it might be about but no one's certain yet! (PS: Yeah, I totally agree, Sasuke's just... urrghhh...) Thanks for taking the time to drop a review!

Irenia: Nah, not with Kizaru. She doesn't like him very much anyways. Lol, I'm glad you like my story so much. If I don't update tomorrow, I'll send you a piece of the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing again!

Anywho, with that all over, I'd like to quickly warn people that there's no OP in this chapter.

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Chapter Ten

**The Dreamer's Argument **

"Demetra. Demetra, wake up."

Demetra merely nodded again, as she had been doing so for the past two or so hours as Kizaru continued with his half-lecture half-destruction rampage across the archipelago. Many civilian bystanders had shut themselves inside their homes or completely evacuated when they witnessed the giant admiral strolling down the roads droning on about Tenryuubito customs while occasionally flicking a pirate or two away.

"Deme- come on, you didn't hit your head that hard…" Came the exasperated voice again. It took her a minute longer to realize it was no longer Kizaru's the lighthearted drawl she was listening to now. This voice was deeper, more serious, and completely devoid of the last-syllable emphasis Kizaru had made a habit of using.

"Huh- wazzat?" She mumbled blearily, finally trying for the first time in an hour to pay attention to her surroundings. _Then_ she realized that the archipelago, the explosions, the screaming, the fleeing pirates, and the tall admiral besides her were all gone again. She was back in the junkyard, sprawled on her back with her head laying dangerously close to a pile of moldy socks. With a screech, Demetra attempted leaping to her feet and instead, her head smashed into something equally hard and two bodies collapsed to the ground clutching their offending parts in pain. "Owowowow! OW!"

The other body rolled off of her with both hands rubbing the new bump on his head. "Ow yourself!" The boy retorted, wincing as he felt the steadily swelling bruise. "Ow… damn, Deme. Your head's hard as ever."

"Ah. Ahh…" Her jaw dropped literally, not knowing what to say when she took in the boy kneeling in front of her clutching his head. Then she started screaming. "Gaaaaaah! Saber! Saber, you idiot! You're here! You're really here!"

In his absence, their leader had only gotten taller and lankier. Almost shyly, he peeked out from between his fingers and laughed softly. "Deme." He repeated again. Almost meaningfully.

Damn it. Damn it all. She wasn't supposed to be feeling the burn of her tears again or the excitement flooding through her person upon laying eyes on her former leader. She was supposed to be mad! Angry, yelling at him, trying to make him feel guilt for heaping all the blame of the group's disbandment on her, anything else but happiness! But it was the last thing she could deny. She was happy, genuinely happy to see her former friend well and healthy.

It seemed almost as if not a day had passed since she had last seen him crouched under that streetlight, face illuminated with florescent orange as she bandaged him up and he made that damning request. "You… you… bastard!" She finally, managed, unable to find any other words to describe him. "If you were going to disband the group, you should have told them the truth all along! I should have never gone along with your harebrained plans! Sylvia hates me now! Thanks a lot!" she gushed with one breath, punching him roughly in the shoulder despite the fact she was grinning widely. Her true emotions were too great to suppress under a mask of indignation or disappointment.

"Alright, alright Deme. I get it, I'm a bastard who couldn't face facts." He replied soothingly, catching her second punch casually.

"You ran." She declared accusingly, snatching back her hand quickly. The inky-haired boy in front of her went silent. "You're awfully brave when it comes to us but when it comes to playing the part of leader, you're an awful coward sometimes!"

"Okay, okay. That was about what, half a year ago?" Saber shook his head but he was still smiling. "You're the first to come back."

"I am?" Demetra's face scrunched up in confusion. "But Sylvia knew where you were."

He cut her off quickly. "And decided if I didn't want to be found, she shouldn't bother. I know that she and James waited longer than anyone else." Then his face finally turned serious for the first time since their meeting. "Which is why, I wonder why the person I've wronged the most has come back to find me?"

Carefully avoiding anymore molding foodstuffs, Demetra sat back calmly. "I needed advice."

"I'm not leader anymore, Demetra." Seemingly tired of resting on the ground, he stood and offered a hand to Demetra, which she took graciously. "Besides, didn't you make it clear what you thought of my actions that day?" Saber seemed saddened. "Can you trust me to advise you properly?"

"I trust that six months alone is enough to give you time to buck up and act like a leader." Demetra snapped, releasing his hand abruptly. "But no, that's not exactly why I know you're the best person to come to for my question. You once said, in college, you majored in philosophy."

"Yeah, and it did my life lots of good." Saber bitterly muttered. "College too. Drove my mum completely broke."

Demetra ignored this and plowed ahead. "I was wondering. What can you tell me about the 'Dream Argument'?"

"Are you serious?" Saber threw his head back and laughed. When he realized Demetra wasn't laughing along, but was shooting him a rather nasty glare, he sobered up immediately. "Dream Argument… something to do with Rene Descartes, right?" At her nod, he frowned thoughtfully and ran a hand through his hair. "Argh… it's been forever since I've had to recall this stuff. Give me a moment, Deme." At her frown, he quickly raised both hands defensively. "Don't get me all wrong, I'm happy what I've learned is finally going to be of some use to someone!"

After a while of fiddling with his fingers, he finally looked up. "Alright. You might want to head for a library to do further research but I can tell you some stuff right now to give you a springboard. Okay, so you know how when a person dreams, you don't really realize it's a dream?"

Demetra nodded again. "Yeah? What about it?"

He sighed and held up a hand. "Well if you think about it, you don't realize when you're dreaming. So the biggest question of this theory is, is the world we walk in really 'reality'? Or is it just a dream?"

'_Just a dream…'_ Demetra stepped back wonderingly. It was true, she was never aware when she used to dream normal dreams. "But I'm awake right now and such, aren't I?"

"Aah, there's the question. _Are_ you really awake? Or are you just dreaming of being awake?" Demetra went silent, her brows furrowed in frustration as her mind tried to come up with a comeback. Shaking his head with laughed, Saber continued. "Can't answer that, can you? Because you don't know what's really a dream because you're not aware of it. Until you wake up, and by chance, recall it, that is."

Once more, she nodded without thinking. "Well, it does make sense. So could you argue that a dream can be a reality? Or another world?"

"'A' reality?" He shrugged. "Well, if you think about it that way, what if everything we dreamed was another world of sorts? What if this world we're standing on right now, is just a dream? And there are perhaps, many people sharing this exact same dream from different worlds. Or maybe I'm the dreamer and everyone else is just apart of my made up world." Again, he shrugged his shoulders, up and down. "It's all just a theory and it's got some funny and pretty complicated arguments to it, but either way you think about it, it could be true. Don't you experience 'pain' in your dreams and you feel it while you're still dreaming?"

"Yeah, it's kind of scary." She thought back to the pleasant times when dreams were just that. Dreams of random events, purple skies, alien invasions, flying, etc. Just normal, wishful, hilarious dreams. Not alternate realities.

"I dreamed once of my mom getting stabbed- I felt the horror in my dreams. I screamed, shouted, vowed revenge, everything! I acted like I would have in the 'real world'. I woke up and dared myself to check on her." It was an embarrassing memory, Demetra could tell, as Saber flushed. "So you see, your emotions are still very much apart of you even though you dream. And in a sense, so are your senses."

Demetra pondered on this a little longer. "So if we were to go by these ideas, I could safely say that I might be sleeping in another world, dreaming of my life here? And that we're all just… dream people?"

Saber burst into applause, laughing lightly. "Yep, you've got it. Don't chew too hard on the idea though, it'll be certain to kill your brain. Just pick a side and stick to it. Believe it, or don't." He chucked, tilting his head questioningly. "So, did that help any?"

She grinned brightly in response, a real heartfelt smile and nodded. "Yeah, lots." Pausing, she shook the strange theories out of her mind and decided to take his advice and brood over them when she was home again. "Thanks, Saber."

"You're welcome." He replied, offering her his hand again. "Come on. You don't want to stay here I'm sure. It's almost eleven already." Shocked at how quickly time had passed already, Demetra took his hand as if she were in a daze and let him steer her through the back exit from the junkyard. "I live over there." He suddenly spoke, jabbing a thumb towards the direction of a line of trailers. "I didn't see you come in through this way, so you went the dangerous way. Alone, too." Saber scowled, giving her a playful shake. "I still think the same, you're not stupid, so don't do stupid things!"

Wincing at the reminder of what mayhem she had caused in her 'dream world', Demetra nodded quickly in agreement. "I didn't actually know there was a back way. Sylvia gave me the directions."

Saber coughed a couple times pointedly but said nothing more on that topic. "By the way, I found your scooter by the alley exit, and brought it over here."

It was only then she realized the shiny piece of metal jutting out against the wire fence was her own scooter. "Ah, thanks!"

He smirked gleefully and patted her warmly on the head. "Sorry about what… you had to go through with Sylvia though. I'll make my appearance someday and get that story straight. Oh, and by the way?" The dark-haired boy leaned in until he was breathing over her ear. "Use 2nd Street to get back home. Something big's about to happen on Main." Below them, Demetra saw the briefest flash of two long, curved knives, one in each of Saber's hand as he flicked them warningly as his expression turned dark, masking his true emotions. "You know what I mean. Don't make me have to bring these out again on your behalf." With that, he gave her another friendly jostle with his elbow and waved her off. She last saw his faded black jacket vanishing into one of the many trailers lined up against the fence.

--

Later that night as she watched the news on the television, she was grateful that Saber had never stopped looking out for all of them. With a sigh, she flicked the television shut and lay back on her bed, finally having the time to rethink everything Saber had given her.

If she had the power to appear in another world invisible, intangible, and completely undetected through her dreams, it was logical that it might work vice versa as well. '_Yeah! That makes perfect sense, if I could really make sure that my dream world isn't a dream, but another world.' _Then she shivered involuntarily. _'That means it's possible I might have someone appearing in my bedroom every night and I can never tell! That's… creepy. What if it's a pervert?' _

"H-Hello? Anyone there?" She called out tentatively. The silence wasn't anymore assuring. After all, she'd never given anyone any indication that she actually existed in her dream world, that was, until her intangibility had begun to wear off for some unknown reason. "Okay, deep breaths. Back to dreams." But even after she tried to calm her wandering, paranoid mind down, Demetra had no success making heads or tails of the Dream Argument theory. With a sigh, she plucked her diary from a pile of dirty laundry and dropped it open on her bed. Snatching a pen from the desk, she shuffled over to the diary and made herself comfortable.

_People don't realize it when they dream, most of the time._

_Dream Argument_- _Is this world real?_

Here, she paused in her scribbling and tapped her pen twice against the words. Then she quickly jotted down:

_What is 'real'_?

Indeed, it was a good question now that Saber had gone and tossed a wrench into her ideals of what was real and what wasn't. What if she was a girl from her so-called 'dream world' dreaming of this world?

_Or…_ what if two of her existed? One always dreaming of the other and the other dreaming of the other. However preposterous the notion was, Demetra was not quick about dismissing the idea. It was always possible, and she of all people ought to have known, given the fact she was cursed to dreaming another world.

Unable to think of anything else to jot down, Demetra sighed and flung the leather bound book back into its traditional pile of dirty clothing and quickly made sure her pocket knife was folded up and in her pocket. Briefly she mourned the loss of her steel pipe. Having a weapon with greater range had made her feel more secure, but now she had nothing but her small knife and whatever wits she could gather to herself. Finally, without knowing it, Demetra let her thoughts drift off as exhaustion settled in. She could wait for tomorrow to solve the puzzle.

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Yeah, that's basically how dedicated I am when I'm into writing a fanfiction. I do research! Hahahaa!

Anywho, thanks for reading, comments are always appreciated!

-Kagetaka


	12. The Dreamer, Trapped

SuddenEclipse: Mayhem. Mayhem shall ensue then! Well, as much mayhem that can occur when someone's trapped on a ship underwater. :P Thanks for dropping a comment!

Wolfsmond: It'd be boring if I didn't bring OP back in, but yeah. Hmm... that makes me wonder, given the fact that Kizaru is a known scatterbrain, how long d'ya reckon it'd take for him to realize Demetra's not with him anymore? Thanks for reviewing again... *twice*

xXDeadly . RoseXx: Lol. Personally, I love philosophy, but it also makes my head hurt after a while. There are so many interchanging beliefs, I do exactly what Saber says. Pick a side and stick to it. It's easier that way rather than trying to sort out all these conficting arguements cause once you choose a side, it doesn't seem as jumbled anymore. Thanks for reviewing!

Dancing Nightmare: A plan, not really, a direction, yes. ^^; I rarelly do have plans for stories, I begin at a point and let it take me where it will. It has its ups and downs. And like I mentioned to Deadly Rose, Saber's way of taking philosophy's the same as mine. Take a side, stick with it. Lol. And damn, you're good. You guessed it. Thanks once more for reviewing.

Sigh... but in the end, it's come to the point where I have to stop and think about where this story's going to go next. Hopefully the idea will strike soon.

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**Chapter Eleven**

**The Dreamer, Trapped**

Sky. _Sky_. Where was the sky? Demetra lay on her back, uncomprehending of the blurry vision before her eyes. The sky was missing. Panicking at the sudden unfamiliar sight, she rolled to her feet and looked around quickly and felt some sort of minor relief. Naturally, she was back on the ship and there was no sign of the Sabaody Archipelago docks, so they'd obviously escaped. But then, if that were so, then…

Where was the sky? Demetra curiously scanned her surroundings.

It was almost as dark as night, and yet the scene above her head seemed nothing like the starry night. It rippled, jiggled, and scarcely any wind could be heard or felt. There was no crashing of waves or the rumble of the ocean as it churned and rippled. Just silence. And darkness.

Then she saw something even more incredulous. A strange shadow, in what was clearly not the horizon, growing bigger and bigger. A humongous, scaled fish swam by, casting its uninterested gaze on the tiny ship. With a flick of its tail, it was gone yet again. Demetra whirled on her feet and saw another giant shadow vanish into the darkness. Another one was lazily hovering above the ship. It was with growing horror when she realized where, exactly, they were.

"Holy fucking hell, no…" The dumbstruck girl whispered in awe and horror. Slowly, she backed away from the railing. "No. No no no. Not possible. How the hell is this possible. It's not. Not possible. Impossible. Impossible!"

Oh, the ship was sailing alright. It was sailing underwater. Under who-knew-how-many-gallons of water. Surrounded by giant, possibly carnivorous fish. What would happen if they suddenly _did_ get interested in the tiny ship protected from the ocean's wrath by a miserable little bubble and decided to eat them?

Her thoughts and her growing dread were shattered by the chatter of several crewmates on deck, who were gazing at the depths of the sea surrounding them with equal excitement and awe. "Wonder how the captain's taking it?"

"Like a man…" The other one quickly looked around the deck for listeners and seeing none, leaned in. "…hiding in his room."

They broke out into lighthearted laughter as they jabbed at each other's ribs. Then from the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of blue and white and coldness settled in her stomach. It was Killer. But now that _he_ was here, she could say or try nothing, lest he notice her. And this time, she would have nowhere to run. She was trapped, thousands of feet underwater on a ship, where jumping was no longer a plausible option, lest she considered suicide.

But still… if these idiots continued poking fun at their captain… Demetra shot the approaching man another worried look.

"You'd think that, as a devil fruit user, Captain Kidd would want to see how underwater's like." The ignorant member said. "There won't be another sight like this for him in a loooong time. Unless he went for a swim himself! Hahahaha- hey, what's wrong?" He asked when his partner did not seem to be sharing his amusement. In fact, he was wearing a particularly terrible look on his face.

'_Shut up now shut up now shut up now…'_ Demetra's mind repeated over and over like a mantra, for both her and the idiot. Right now Killer was too close for her to scream a warning- and most likely these people wouldn't be able to hear her. And she didn't feel like being dragged to see Kidd again once her presence was detected on the ship. And taking all of that into consideration… '_Shit. Kidd can hear me too now! What am I going to do?' _

"Come on, that was funny! You know it, what's wrong- urk!"

Before Demetra could look away from what she knew was inevitable 'justice' on a pirate ship, the man slumped over, held up only by one of Killer's arm blades. With a squelching noise, Killer let the body drop ungracefully to the ground and eyed the other pale, sweating crewmember, who had blood splattered cross the front of his jacket.

"Clean that up." He ordered, pushing the cooling corpse with his foot. "And get back below deck. You have a job to do." The red on his blade was not new and there were even flecks of blood on his chest and mask, indicating he had been busy lately with his scythes.

"Ye-yessir!" The underling squeaked, and bolted off for a mop and pail.

'_Asshole'_ Demetra thought bitterly, wondering where all her pity for Killer had fled off to.

The familiar urge to knock his helium-filled head down a couple notches returned at full force but Demetra squashed it quickly. Hadn't she made enough stupid mistakes to last her a lifetime? Even Saber of all people still believed she wasn't stupid enough to try anything dumb. She was beginning to doubt that though.

With care to remain as inconspicuous as possible, Demetra slowly began to tail Killer back below deck, curious as to what, exactly, was going on and why the hell a ship that wasn't riddled with holes or sunken, was sailing _underwater_ of all places. From the looks of it, it seemed as if they had managed to jam their ship into a bubble and somehow defied the laws of buoyancy and were now traveling on the ocean floor. Amazing, if not, improbable.

Demetra suddenly blinked twice when she realized Killer was no longer in front of her. Turning on the spot, Demetra realized that the ship below deck was a lot more complicated than she remembered. She cursed under her breath, still careful not to make too much noise. While she had been pondering the mystery of how a ship could sail beneath the seas, Killer must have taken another turn and left her hanging wherever she was.

On her right was another hallway down to what seemed to be the galley. From behind the doors, she could hear a jolly shanty going on. On her left was a corner to another hallway, and directly in front of her was an ornate door. Curiously and against her sense of caution, Demetra stepped through the closed door, but quickly leapt back, slapping a hand across her mouth before it could run off with any unnecessary screaming. Close. Too close.

"I have the worst luck in the world." Demetra groused, taking two steps back from Kidd's door. "Or he just has a really poor sense of where his room ought to be." Either way, right now did _not_ seem to be a good time to stumble upon Kidd, especially since he hadn't looked very happy at all.

Demetra wasn't missing anything too spectacular other than Kidd at the height of his touchiness. Then again, here he was, locked in his room, on his ship, which was currently sailing _underwater_. To make matters worse, undoubtedly, the rest of the crew were probably taking his self-imposed imprisonment as an opportunity to laugh at his predicament. Hopefully Killer would be fulfilling orders and making rounds around the ship to deal with the fools. It was a small comfort.

By now, his pacing had worn a small path in the wood flooring and he was certain several more rounds and the floor would ignite. With a disgruntled sigh, he yanked his chair out with a loud bang and plopped himself into it. Just as he was about to draw his dagger for entertainment purposes, there was a soft gasp at the door before someone gagged themselves quickly. His head snapped towards the direction of the sound and he was able to catch several retreating words.

"…worst luck in the world…"

Kidd smirked, mentally agreeing with the speaker as he strode to the cabin door, preparing to have some fun with the luckless moron who dared to disturb him. But before he could twist the knob, the voice sounded again in his mind and he narrowed his eyes dangerously. It was… irritatingly familiar. Too familiar. But… how the hell was it possible?

"What… the hell?" Swiftly, he threw the door open, causing several stray crewmembers to jump in their boots. No one else was in sight. "Did anyone come by my room?" He snapped, but much to his displeasure and growing suspicion, they shook their heads. "Whatever. Tell Killer I'm looking for him." The red-haired captain snarled, ignoring their baffled looks when he slammed his door and strode up the hallway, straining his ears for any sign of the voice.

Now aware that a very pissed off pirate captain with far too much time on his hands was out after her, Demetra painstakingly silenced her steps, tiptoeing slowly up the stairs back onto deck. To no avail, he followed after, clearly blind to her presence but no less suspicious.

He was already low on his already scarce patience and clearly hearing voices that shouldn't have been on his ship was starting to cut it incredibly thin. Hastily ensuring no one was on deck to listen in on what he was about to say, Kidd was satisfied to see that not a soul was on deck. Killer was doing his job well.

Finally certain he was not about to be pegged as insane by his own crew, he hissed. "How the hell did you get on my ship?!"

Demetra, who had been trying to make a quicker retreat away from the moody captain nearly stumbled but grabbed onto the railing for support. Her clumsy error instantly caught his attention and the next thing she knew, pain blossomed in her shoulder and she gasped when she saw the dagger that had been embedded into her flesh. Clutching the wound, she quickly dove to her knees and pressed herself tightly against the railing, fear dancing in her eyes.

"I-I…" she stammered uncertainly. He would be able to see the knife and her blood covering it. She was caught. And he proved this by coming to a stop right where she crouched cowering. Shakily, her eyes made their way up his intimidating form, from his sea boots, to his oddly-patterned pants, up to his glaring eyes.

"Stowaways…" He growled, guessing accurately where her shirt was and grabbing her by the front, hauling her roughly to her feet. Slowly, the warm, red crimson liquid seeped over his hand. "Are not. Permitted. Now answer me! How the hell did you get here?" This was accompanied by a rough shake.

She was panting now, panicking as she realized she was in no position to do an encore of her performance on Sabaody Archipelago. Her shoulder ached far too much for any of that. But she couldn't think of that. She couldn't think of anything to say to save her own life or to appease the aggravated man in front of her. "I-I… I'm sorry!" Demetra squeaked, unable to stop herself from crying out as he began to drag her away from the railing without concern for the knife stuck in her bleeding shoulder.

By the time they were on the bottom of the steps and back under deck, Demetra could no longer feel her legs, as her shin bones had taken the brunt of the damage when he pulled her gracelessly after him down each step. Instead of further humiliating herself, she bit down on her lower lip and accepted the abuse wordlessly. Let him think her a sniveling coward, but no one would call her weak!

Just before he could pull her through the door, a blue and white mask poked around the corner. "Some people told me you were looking for me, Kidd." Killer spoke, crossing his arms somewhat impatiently.

"Ah, Killer. Perfect timing." Kidd nudged her into the room and beckoned Killer to follow.

Noticing the blood trailing down his captain's hand, Killer snorted. "What did you do to yourself now, Kidd?" Then he noticed his dagger, levitating in mid-air, the point clearly embedded in something… or someone.

"It's not mine. It's _hers_." He spat, flinging the girl into the corner of his room. Both men heard a sound thump against the wall and a pained cry.

"Wake up. Wake up… I want to wake up." Demetra murmured to herself, curling up into a ball as the two approached her. "Come on…" Her fingers wrapped around the hilt of the dagger and she had to bite down on the scream that threatened to tear out of her throat when she yanked it out.

"That voice…" Killer stated, stopping at a safe distance from the girl, prompting Kidd to stop as well. "You're that girl from the archipelago."

"So you don't know her." Kidd concluded, watching uninterestingly as the dagger came out and made a thunk-ing noise against the floor. "I thought it was weird that you might know such a weakling."

Demetra's fear gave away to a hint of annoyance but she did not move or make to retort. Her shoulder was throbbing wildly, as if someone had ran a herd of cattle over it.

Killer made a sound of disbelief in his throat. "Hmph. But I don't think you asked me to come here just to re-introduce me. Who are you anyways?"

Demetra went silent, and seeing that perhaps their prisoner was not about to answer, Kidd flicked a finger and the dagger went soaring back into his hand, sending the blood on the steel everywhere. Swallowing quickly and nervously as she eyed the knife in his hands, she answered, the words slurring over her tongue. "Demetra. Erm, Demetra Traumer." She quickly amended.

"Alright then, Demetra-san." Killer said quickly before Kidd could make a snide remark, and moved between his captain and their captured prisoner. "We never finished our conversation on Sabaody." Instantly, Demetra felt a stab of relief that Killer would be the one dealing with her. She was still intangible to him, at least… _she hoped_. And he seemed less likely to fly off the handle like his captain.

Behind his back, he made a gesture telling his captain to leave it to him. Surprisingly, Kidd merely sighed and re-sheathed the dagger. "She's your responsibility then. Since…" His amused smirk had returned full-force to his face. "I thought you might want to know who helped save your sorry ass back on Sabaody."

Killer made a rude gesture and growled wordlessly, turning his attention back on Demetra. Then he looked her invisible form up and down, knelt down, and before Demetra knew what he was doing, he shoved his hand right through her stomach and wiggled his fingers slightly. Then he stood up again as realization slowly began to dawn upon him. "Don't tell me…" he warned lowly, bristling.

He smirked and obliged, "Alright, I won't. _Tell_, I mean." And instead, jabbed his thumb toward the corner Demetra was huddled in.

Taken aback for only a second Killer abandoned Demetra in her corner and followed Kidd from the room. The lock glided shut, tugged along by Kidd's magnetism. "You haven't told me anything." The masked man accused in a harsh whisper. "Too busy being seasick in your goddamned room, no doubt. Had fun making out with your toilet?"

"And since when am I obliged to tell you anything?" The captain responded, rising to the challenge instantly.

"You damn well should, especially if it concerns _me_!" His knuckles were slowly turning white from his frustration. "How the hell does _she_ fit into all of this?"

Neither side was giving ground. The Massacre Soldier had his hands firmly tightened around the base of his weapons, his scythes still sheathed, and Kidd had drawn himself up to full height, his fingers twitching sporadically.

Finally, Killer backed down, if only out of respect for his leader and released the death grip he had on his unprepared weapons. "All I remember is that girl's voice and then Kizaru appearing out of nowhere. We fought- oh, excuse me." He laughed bitterly. "I meant to say, he kicked me around a little, and then I blacked out."

"Well then, why don't you get in there and confront your little savior? Maybe you two can hit it off together." With a caustic laugh and his customary sneer, Kidd pushed his first mate towards the door, undoing the lock while he was at it, opening the door wide enough for Killer to stumble through, then twisted the lock in such a fashion that even the ones trapped inside the room would not be allowed out. Satisfied with his handiwork, he began to head down the hall back to the upper deck. "Don't wreck the room!" He called back jovially over his shoulder, suddenly feeling a lot more relaxed than before.

The fact that he was thousands of feet below, and surrounded his mortal weakness was no longer as troubling as it seemed. In fact, if Killer let the girl keep her life, he would consider keeping them together more often. It would make for a very entertaining combination. Whimsically, he considered taking the opportunity to chance a sight at the ocean above his head now that his mood had drastically improved.

* * *

Kidd is evil, but we all knew that.

Anywho, I think I'll update Shooting Stars next. That one's way overdue for an update.

Later dayz.

-Kagetaka


	13. The Dreamer and the Offer

Wolfsmond: In...deed. It'd probably play out like that XD. Or maybe halfway through, he'd just forget about what he was doing. Yeah, that sounds about good. Lol. As for the way they treat their subordinates, the way I see it, not every ship functions like the Straw Hat crew. I hate to say it, but most crews have generic fodder for these purposes. Stupid generic fodder. And admittedly most of them ARE really stupid anyways. Anywho, thanks for dropping a comment again!

Silver Child of the Sea: Please do! I've only just got the story planned out. Hahaha. Anyhow, thank you for the comment and please enjoy the story.

U can only imagine: Err... thanks! . If I had a brother that nosey, I'd probably slam the door in his face- literally! Thanks for logging in to drop a review, lol~!

A/N: Yeeep. As I mentioned in the review replies, I've finally charted out the story! Sometimes I hate myself for just writing whatever I feel works and just going with the flow. . I never have a plan! But now I do! Including the epilogue, there are six essential chapters I have left to write out. Of course, me being the person I am, I might end up expanding on these six and end up with more but I don't make any guarantees for that.

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Chapter Twelve

**The Dreamer and the Offer**

How long they stared at one another, Demetra could not tell. Time seemed to stop the moment her eyes met his emotionless blue and white mask. For a while, the man did not say anything. Instead, he literally followed in the footsteps of his captain and took to pacing around the room furiously, ignoring her in favor of his own turbulent thoughts. Meanwhile, Demetra was busy drawing up plans to possibly escape from the room should everything begin going downhill. It was easy enough just to back into a wall and escape by phasing away, but no doubt once Killer realized she was no longer in the room, he would be pissed at having been locked into the room by himself. And then neither of them, that was, Kidd or Killer, would be in a very generous mood. No, better to wait it out and see what happened. It was safer that way.

Finally, when the thumping of his shoes stopped, Demetra, who had remained silent all along, looked up. It seemed as if he had finally reached a decision. "I'm sparing your life." He stated flatly, making no moves towards his scythes, but his frustration was still evident in his voice. "If you tell me what the hell possessed you to do something as stupid as whatever stunt you pulled on Sabaody."

"If I tell you what happened, you won't kill me?" '_Not like you can, anyways…_' Demetra repeated suspiciously. It seemed too good to be true.

"I'm alive. I'm not ungrateful either." Killer returned steadily, his voice impressively betraying none of his emotions this time. "And even pirates have their honorable sides. But if I leave you alive, I make no guarantees what will happen to you on this ship. Everyone here pulls their own weight. But in your case, I highly doubt you can accomplish anything in that state." He paused, reining himself back in. "But I'm getting far too ahead of myself. Do we have an understanding?"

It _was _too good of a deal to let pass. After all, now, she had nothing left to lose other than her life, whereas on the other hand, she would get to keep it and she would no longer have to duck and cover each time she crossed paths with Kidd or Killer. "T-Tell me what you want to know though first." She insisted on knowing.

Taking a minute to gather his questions, he slowly began to list them. "What happened, exactly, on Sabaody, why the hell you followed us all over the archipelago, what are you-"

"I'm very much human, thank you very much!" Demetra retorted indignantly. How dare he! He was more inhuman than she would ever be!

"Not that." He replied irritably, taking a step forward and effectively silencing Demetra once more. "A marine? Pirate? Assassin? Bandit? That kind of question."

Oh. She felt like slapping herself. That was stupid of her. "That's unfair. What happens if I said assassin?"

"Then you would be lying." Killer retorted, still making no threatening movements. "Because you've already proven yourself intolerably incompetent at fighting, you give your movements away far too easily, and the sound of your footsteps indicate you're probably nothing more than either an extremely low-ranking marine, or a common civilian."

"Gee, thanks for that vote of confidence." She mumbled, ducking her head lower and lower as he listed each of her flaws. She wasn't that terrible at fighting! Then again, if she were to go measure herself against the same scale these superhuman monsters were using… Demetra gave up on rebutting that point and dropped it altogether. "I'm a civilian- and a healer of sorts. What else did you want to ask?"

"Why you were following us on Sabaody."

She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, knowing he wouldn't be able see hear doing so. "I was bored and had nothing better to do." At his icy silence, Demetra growled, slowly getting to her feet, although her shoulder was still complaining vehemently. "What? It's true! I'm invisible, normally un-hearable, and completely intangible! Why not do something as dangerous as tagging after a notorious bunch of pirates?"

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated." The masked man growled back, listening as she stood up. "Now try again, truthfully before I decide I _do_ require my captain's presence."

'_Quite the touchy crew of easily provoked characters'_, Demetra thought scathingly, yet she remained undaunted. "I'll warn you right now that the only other person I've bothered telling the truth to didn't believe me either."

"Well I highly doubt said other person can detect lies now, can they?" Killer responded dryly. "Whereas, by the sound of your heartbeat, I can easily discern whether or not you lie. On another note, this _is _the Grand Line we're sailing on. Nothing makes sense here."

"Well fantastic! Maybe you'll just settle for sending me to an asylum then!" With a fierce scowl, Demetra leaned back against the wall. It was possible he would detect no lie and decide she was just a very deluded individual. "So, could I ask you a question first?" At his hesitant nod, Demetra took the plunge. "Are you philosophical?"

Dumbfounded, Killer wondered where the strange girl was about to go with this, and decided to humor her with an answer. "More or less." He shrugged. "Sometimes. Never hurts to think on something."

She looked pleased. "Oh goody. That makes my job a lot easier. So does this world have anything called a 'Dream Argument'?"

"A-what?" Skipping a beat, he shook his head furiously as if to clear his thoughts. "That's not the point of this conversation! The original question was, why are you following us?"

"Because boredom was a partial truth!" She insisted. "I _am_ bored. And I'm tired too! And the Dream Argument has everything to do with why I'm on your bloody ship and why I thought I had no other choice but to tag along with you guys when there was nothing else interesting."

Sensing no change or hitch in her voice or heartbeat, Killer motioned for her to continue. "Alright. Explain."

--

An hour or so went by without either's notice. It was easy to lose themselves in the isolation of the room, where no one dared disturb them and there was no way in or out unless Killer busted down the door himself, which would undoubtedly attract his captain's displeasure.

There were times he found himself seriously doubting the voice coming from the corner, but to his immense frustration, the cheeky brat still showed no signs of lying. And Killer wasn't ready to begin doubting himself quite yet. So it was easy to come to several conclusions. One, the girl was telling the truth. Two, she was a very good liar. Or three, she was very much deluded into believing that such a thing was happening to her every night.

But it was more than likely she was telling the truth. After asking her about several pieces of information on the crew, he found she was easily able to list a rough draft of the morning and afternoon shift schedules on the ship, recite what had happened in a bar before they had reached the archipelago, and much, much more. How frightening it was, that a mere civilian girl had been trailing their journey for a little over a month and they had never realized it. Had she truly been an assassin or something worse… he didn't want to think about it.

As Demetra continued her explanation Killer focused on where her voice was coming from again, and his eyes widened when he saw a faint, blurry outline tucked against the wall, leaning there tiredly. If he hadn't known better, he would have believed it to be a heat wave of some sort.

"Wait-" He interrupted, holding up a hand, and Demetra fell silent. "Do me a favor, go anywhere in the room and don't make a noise." Wordlessly, she obeyed, and he could see the blurry figure stepping through the desk and stopping beside the chair. "I see you." Killer stated in surprise, facing her to prove it.

"Wah!" Shocked at this sudden revelation, Demetra leapt back- and fell through the wall, bashing her head against the floor. "Ow! Damn!"

"Ah crap." Killer had the grace to mumble as he saw a pair of blurry legs sticking through the wall, under the desk. The other half of the body had to be outside the room. "Funny you can fall through walls but not floors." He added humorlessly, bending down to take a closer look.

"Not funny. So not funny." Automatically sitting up, she snorted in mirth, finding her face barely emerging from the wall whereas her hair and her back were still outside. "Ow, ow, ow… let's not repeat that again. You can see me?"

"Not… completely." He responded, extending a hand helpfully. Demetra sighed and reached out for his hand, but it wasn't too surprising when her blurry hand passed through his. "I still can't touch you." He sighed disappointedly. "But no, I can't see you clearly. All I see is this… blob. Like a heat wave. In the shape of a human. Awfully scrawny thing, aren't you?"

"I was ill." She retorted flatly, refusing to delve into her own personal background.

"And that was a lie." Killer returned, equally as flat.

"And the truth is personal!"

He stopped, biting back his next response. This was getting them nowhere and furthermore, they were drifting further and further away from the topic at hand. So far, he had managed to collect that the girl, Demetra, would appear on their ship every time she fell asleep in 'her world' or her reality, as she knew it, and that to most people, she could not be detected at all. It was as if nothing but her consciousness existed- but he knew this wasn't the case.

Another question quickly arose in his mind. "Before all of this, Kidd couldn't hear you. So how did you manage to alert him to Kuma?"

Deciding that waiting on the hard floor wasn't going to help, Demetra pulled herself up and brushed her clothing off before answering. "I don't really know. I was kind of mad, excited, hysterical, and really, really desperate." She flushed in embarrassment. He didn't need to know all of that! "I was just really emotional, did something really stupid by touching him, and yelled at him. Then- everyone there could see me, hear me, and touch me."

"Has this… ever happened before?" He questioned, slowly adding up the scene in his mind.

Wisely, she kept her mouth shut about the Tenryuubito affair, but decided to nod her head anyways. Curse the human lie detector! "Yeah. I was really mad at someone and took a swing at them- and everyone saw it. The moment I calmed down though, no one could see me anymore."

Considering this a moment longer, Killer continued. "Powerful emotions- that could be the trigger. How angry were you?"

"Pissed to the point of seeing red." She answered honestly, recalling Charlos' disgusting face and grimacing distastefully.

Something was happening to the human shaped blob- the shape was growing sharper, although there seemed to be no indication that the features were going to appear at all. "Whatever it is you're doing, don't stop." He ordered, circling around Demetra like a predator.

Her grimace worsened. Heavens! Thinking of Charlos even more deeply? The thought itself caused her displeasure to grow. "If you knew what you're asking of me…"

"I don't care! Keep it up!" The outline had sharpened to the point at which it seemed it was no longer a blurry but a very sharp outline of a human. Like paint on a canvas, a faint trace of color had begun to appear. The ghostly figure of a dark-haired girl stood transparently with her upper body popping out of the desk. "Now tell me, what are you thinking of?"

"The fat bastard whose face I knocked in!" she blurted out angrily before she could stop herself. Luckily the description was pretty vague and he didn't suspect anything.

In that moment when she yelled the words out, the ghostly apparition flickered and for the first time, he laid eyes on Demetra Traumer- only for a second, however. Her rage hadn't lasted long enough for the image to sustain, and she was back to being an invisible blur.

"Emotions it is. Apparently you feel… extreme distaste… for whomever this 'fat bastard' is to the point that you're beginning to appear." He finally concluded. "Now, try calming down."

"…What the hell? I'm stuck on a pirate ship- detectable by two people who _did_ want me dead, one of which is in this room, and we're how many thousand feet underwater? And you want me to _calm down_?" She snapped, unaware that once more, her entire form was visible to his eyes.

"Or fine, don't!" Instead of retaliating and demanding that she follow his orders, he took the opportunity to carry out another experiment. He reached out and before she could ask what he was doing, plunged both hands against her shoulder.

Gasping at the push, Demetra stumbled back and looked up angrily, before freezing up in a mixture of horror, shock, and disbelief. Touch. He had touched her. "You… you just… you… arrgh! A gentle tap would have sufficed!"

Killer allowed himself to smirk as the flustered girl continued to rant. Then after several more seconds of listening to her, he fell back into deep thought. Truthfully, he had detected no lies in her tale, so if he were to give her the benefit of the doubt, there were only two options left. Although- he had already promised she would not be dying by his hands, so that left one last option. "Back on the topic of your presence on this ship."

Abruptly, Demetra fell silent, waiting for the verdict. Fitfully, she tried to calm herself down by taking deep breaths. If she was calm- there was no way he could make contact with her if he got violent, right? Part of her feared that her fear was causing everything to go downhill. Fear was a powerful emotion too, right? What if- what if she couldn't calm down enough? Wasn't that what was happening right now? Demetra shook her head frantically. Empty mind. Empty mind. But her thoughts were still a whirlwind of anxiety and confusion.

"…Stay here. Or I _will_ take back everything." He suddenly demanded, seemingly changing his mind about telling her what her fate was to be. Slowly, he moved away from the table and stopped in front of the door with a calculating glare on his face. "'Don't wreck the room' he said. Doors don't count." With that, in a blink of an eye, he had drawn both scythes from his pouch and diced the door diagonally. Four pieces of wood clunked to the floor and Killer kicked them off to the side without a backwards glance.

Gone. He was finally gone. Demetra breathed her first sigh of relief and let herself mindlessly slump against the wall. A minute more passed when she finally realized it. "Wait… didn't I just fall through this damn thing?"

Her fingers scraped against the wood as she stroked the wall confusedly. An idea burst into mind, and breathing deeply, Demetra drew away from the wall and tried to ignore its existence completely- placing full trust in her inexistence. It wasn't too difficult, considering that she still believed this world to be nothing more than a dream. Then she felt for the wall again, and this time, her fingers drifted through as if the wall wasn't even there. Quickly before the idea that the wall was real could take place in her mind, she snapped her fingers back. Thinking back to when Kidd had first tossed her into his room, Demetra recalled that she had not been able to phase through the wall either. Perhaps her terror at being caught and caged had triggered her mind into believing that she was truly trapped, thus making the walls solid once more.

Unconsciously, she knew why the floor seemed to be infinitely solid. It was expected that she always had something solid underneath her feet no matter what. Hence, if this were truly how the world worked in her terms, then the floor would forever be a constant no matter what. No amount of inexistence could dispute that. After all, she was no ghost.

Experimentally, Demetra believed as hard as she could that the pen on Kidd's desk was very much real. It was a simple quill, same as the ones she could pick out in an antique shop. Large, broad, and maroon. It was just another writing utensil. Tentatively, she reached out and brushed her fingers against the fine bristles and then closed her hand around it. The feather collapsed in her hand snugly, and she lifted it off the table and Demetra let a broad grin spread across her face. Now, maybe she could begin taking things home. Longingly, she recalled the lovely black scarf she had seen on that unnamed island before they had reached the archipelago and a silly grin filled her face.

"…is there a really, really good reason why you decided to cut my door to pieces? And… why the hell is my quill levitating?" Surprised, Demetra let the feather drop with a tap onto the desk and stumbled away from the door. Killer had apparently returned, with his fiery-haired captain in tow. Nonplussed at the fact he had apparently startled her, Kidd stepped over the remains of his door and settled for glaring at where he estimated her to be, which was actually several inches off. "I still have no idea why you think this is a good idea." He snarled over his shoulder where Killer stood.

Instead of responding directly, Killer shrugged, as if saying 'It's your choice in the end,' and pointed his captain to where Demetra really was.

"…Fine." Kidd grumbled finally, returning his attention to Demetra. "Apparently Killer thinks you can be useful to us. I'm tempted to disagree but _maybe_ this could be beneficial for both sides."

"He means in a not-so-subtle-way that he agrees with me and is having a lot of trouble admitting it." Killer translated shortly, quelling the amusement that welled up when Kidd turned to glare at him again.

"Fine then, oh loyal first mate of mine. If you're so in-tune with my thoughts, why don't you do the honors?"

Unaffected by the biting sarcasm in Kidd's words, Killer too, stepped over the pieces of door and stopped by his captain's side. "What we mean is, logically, since we can't stop you from appearing on the ship and since your 'inexistence' might be useful to us.."

Somehow, Demetra knew where this was going before he even voiced the words. "Wait a minute. You mean to say… you want me to…"

Sensing that she had hit the nail on the head, Killer nodded affirmatively. "Correct." Then he said the damning words her mind, out of shock, wasn't conjuring up. "Join us."

Disbelievingly, she looked from one face to the other. Even Kidd's usual sadistic smirk was absent from his face. Killer was of course, completely unreadable. "Wha- why?"

"I did say 'stowaways aren't allowed right?' and I don't feel like tossing you off the ship every time you reappear. It might be fun for a little while…" He looked thoughtful for a moment before an exasperated noise from Killer shook him out of it.

Laughing off the situation wasn't the way to go- both of them would probably interpret it in a different manner and she knew neither would hesitate to do her harm as it was right now. The arguments were simple on both sides though. Who knew what would happen if she were to refuse? And truly… it wasn't like there was another choice. Her inexistence was slowly vanishing and giving away to existence. Cold fear gripped her heart suddenly. What if… what if one day, she couldn't wake up? What if she was forever doomed to remain dreaming in another world, a prisoner on this ship?

And… what about what Killer had done to his own crewmate earlier? Either way, wasn't her life easily forfeit if whether or not she chose to join? A-and what about other people's lives? Would she have to join in the plundering, the killing, the massacres- all no doubt associated with a life of piracy?

"D-Do I really have a choice?" she finally muttered, trying to clear her thoughts as she massaged her temple.

She must have sounded bitterer than she had intended to be, since Killer gave his captain another look. Kidd responded by shrugging silently. The masked man shook his head quietly and nudged his captain. Finally, Kidd spoke. "Either way I see it, you don't. By default, you've got no choice but to show up on _my_ ship. You've been doing nothing but tailing us around. And well, the way the World Government and the Marines see it," Here, he sneered darkly, but it didn't seem to be directed towards her in any way. "If you're traveling on a pirate ship with pirates, you're a pirate. You've been sailing with us for a month already. What we just offered you; it's pretty much just a formality now."

Having decided that apparently his captain could handle it now, Killer took leave of the room, sweeping over the door and kicking the debris aside.

Slumping in defeat, Demetra sighed for what seemed to be the umpteenth time. "So I'm a pirate."

Pitilessly, Kidd nodded shortly and turned on the heel of his boot to leave the room, apparently deciding that the conversation was over. "Yep. You're a pirate."

The girl mumbled something under her breath and he stopped in his tracks, peering back at her through the corner of his eye. "Pardon?"

"I said: I'll join." She mumbled again, watching the floor with renewed fascination. It was better than looking at… her new captain. "So… yeah." Demetra said awkwardly.

Maybe it was her indescribable feelings swirling around her mind, or maybe it was still the fear running in her veins that caused it, but slowly and surely, Kidd could very faintly make out a thin human shape standing in the middle of his room, fiddling with her hands with her head bowed. Gradually, the features started filling in and he took the moment to drink in the sight of his newest crewmember. After all, he had been too entranced by her hysterics last time to get a proper look.

Pale-skinned. Shoulder length, raven-colored hair. Dark, dark eyes, with sickly dark circles beneath them, giving him the faint impression that she was somehow ill. And now that she wasn't trying to catch his attention in any manner, she seemed rather collected- but only a fool would miss the confusion on her face. And confusion gave away to shock when he reached out and rested a hand directly on her shoulder in an awkwardly comforting gesture.

Their eyes met… and Demetra wanted with all her might to yank them away. She was afraid what would happen if she didn't. It would ruin everything, from her predisposed notions about him to everything else she couldn't even think about. She was a pirate now. He was a pirate. Weren't pirates evil? Like monsters in human guises. And the fact that these people had special abilities in their arsenal only seemed to cement that fact. This man before her had killed. He was… he was…

And yet… how extraordinarily human his eyes seemed at the moment. Nothing at all like the feral eyes of a demon she had witnessed when he had been fighting.

"You… you'll get used to it." He muttered roughly, drawing back slowly.

Damn it all, she was just another crewmate! Well… then again, she was also the only… female… crewmate on board now. That alone set her apart from the others, if her inexistence didn't. He supposed it was just something he himself would have to slowly grow accustomed to. And as long as he wasn't in a bad mood, she would just be one of the many crewmates-not-quite-nakama he'd have to look over. And well, if he was in a bad mood, she would simply have to be wise enough like the rest of them to shut up and stay out of his way or die. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Yeah…" Kidd said to, more to himself as he left the room with heavy steps. "Cause, you know… we're just the rebellion."

"Just the rebellion…" Demetra echoed softly as Kidd vanished from sight, completely unaware of the surge of memories he'd invoked by mentioning that phrase

* * *

Annnnyyywhoooooo... wish me luck cause my summer's gonna end soon and I want this story DONE!

Reviews, comments, etc appreciated, but keep in mind that etc does not include flames, thank you very much!

-Kagetaka


	14. The Dreamer, A Pirate

Firstly- apologies for taking so long on this chapter but I had college orientation to deal with (had to stay overnight .) and this chapter was also a real pain for me to write. Somewhat of a filler. And that makes it difficult.

Irenia: . As I said, I don't really know how many chapters it might take but you already know I know how it'll end. How I'll get from point A to point Z is another story. Hahahaha... anywho, thank you for reviewing! (And whipping my butt back into writing)

Wolfsmond: Yeah, my summer'll end in a month and somewhat earlier than that because I have to move into my dorm. And well, as I said to Irenia, I can't make any guarantees on the length of the story because I actually have the last chapter written but... not the ones in between sooo.... anywho, thank you for reviewing again!

Lizzy: Why thank you. . I try not to make my story boring because that makes it boring for me to write. It's really hard when said chapter is mostly filler... like this one... anywho... thank you for dropping a comment!

xXDeadly .RoseXx: Yep- and it only gets better, the dream thing. Lol, yeah, Killer- shoved into a room and locked in for no good reason. Thanks for the review as always!

Dancing Nightmare: Yay! I did that? Yes! *pumps fist*

Sonya: Thanks! I'm glad it interested you. ^^

Faye317: Romance, romance. Perhaps. Thanks for the comment!

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Chapter Thirteen

**The Dreamer, a Pirate**

All those months ago, another boy had given her those exact same words in the same odd melancholic tone, and then proceeded to heap the duty of breaking them up upon her shoulders. It was a strange burden to bear and at times, it never even left an impression, until recently. Sylvia's 'betrayal' had hit hard, now that she was finally allowing it to sink in. How… terrible lonely reality was.

Her mother didn't care. Kyle cared too much. And Saber…

She didn't want to think on him any longer. Maybe she could forgive him, but he had made it abundantly clear that their worlds had no room for each other. And of course, now, she had an entire new world open its doors to her. And she had accepted.

For now, she would merely allow herself to dream. And awaken.

--

Pirate. A _pirate_.

The entire day had been spend brooding on this fact. Finally, and only when it was nine at night, Demetra stood in front of her mirror, glaring daggers at her reflection. Sure, she had finally began eating healthily again, even without Kyle's help and she _had_ been out in the sun more thanks to her dream world. Even so, she was still unattractively thin. Her arms were like twigs that could be easily snapped to pieces. Even her complexion looked like a porcelain Halloween doll.

How the hell was this… gothic doll in the mirror… a pirate?

Distastefully rubbing at her eyes, she wished she could make the dark circles vanish as easily as mascara did. Then she scowled at her reflection before her mind unhelpfully supplied the thought that she looked more like a vengeful spirit than a pirate.

"And then again, at first sight, you'd think that crew was a traveling band of heavy metal musicians." She grumbled, wondering if she should rouse herself to dress the part of a Kidd Pirate. She cringed, deciding that she would dress however the hell she wanted as long as it wasn't as outrageous and outlandish as the rest of them. "Who can blame me? I'm just a normal girl who barely exists. Okay, sure, that makes me not normal at all, but hey…" Letting the verbal thoughts drift off, Demetra smirked grimly at the mirror.

No, the girl in the mirror was no pirate. She was a doll, reduced into being such by a boy who had selfishly cast them all away.

'_But, I'm a dangerous doll too._' Demetra added mentally, knowing and feeling the weight of the pocket knife in her pockets. And she had many more where that one came from. Indeed. It was time to take out all her tricks and toys for this purpose.

The closet door slammed open with a bang and Demetra got on her hands and knees, tossing aside shoeboxes, fallen articles of clothing, and other junk she'd never bothered to really look at, until she had cleared the center of the small closet, unearthing a small, loose floorboard. With a screwdriver wedged deeply in the crevice, Demetra pushed and the board gave away.

It was here she kept all her secrets literally crammed into a box. If her parents ever knew, she knew they would do more than pitch a hissy fit. And Kyle… she didn't even want to think about it. But even her nosy little brother had no idea what skeletons lay in her closet. Reaching into the dusty compartment with both hands, Demetra slowly drew out another box, a metal case with a combination on it. Quickly twisting the knob several times, she pried open the box and made a face. It had been Saber's present to her in case it all came down to kill or be killed. Luckily for Demetra, such a situation had never happened and she had never had to use it for its intended purpose.

At the bottom of the box lay her semi-auto pistol and several cartridges to go with it. Oddly enough, an almost-out-of-place instruction manual lay at the bottom of the box. But having seen Saber occasionally fiddling with his own toys had shown her how to load the cartridges and fire the thing, but it didn't stop her from sweeping over the instruction manual quickly.

It was pretty absurd, actually, now that she thought about it. The only guns she had seen in her dream world had been old fashioned pistols, rifles, and mortars. And now here she was with a modern semi. It was going to knock the socks off the gun fanatics.

For a solemn moment, Demetra looked at the weapon in the box and wondered what she was going to be using it for. Protection, yes. But from who, or what?

Or… would she be the one to take shots at innocent civilians? What if she were ordered to join in butchering innocents? Steeling her thoughts and misgivings, Demetra fixed the safety on the gun and placed it back in the box, deciding to take the entire box with her to bed. It wouldn't do to accidentally shoot herself in her sleep, would it?

No way in hell was she going to risk it this time. Grimly, and wishing that it wasn't necessary, Demetra locked her door securely before pushing the box onto her bed.

'_Don't make me…do anything unnecessary…'_

--

It was the first ever welcome she had ever received on the ship, but she would have preferred to skip over it had she had the option. Killer loomed over her form, cursing and glaring menacingly as if it had somehow been her fault she had suddenly appeared in the middle of deck, causing him to stumble face first into the mast.

"S'not my fault." She grumbled inaudibly as she picked herself up, nursing her bruised stomach.

Ignoring her discomfort, Killer looked around cautiously, and decided to speak in low tones. "Every time you reappear, you're to report to me or Kidd, so we don't accidentally decapitate you when you pop out of nowhere. Like you did just now."

"Yes sir." Demetra tried not to glare at him. Or look at him. If she did, she would risk reappearing again in full sight.

Nodding sternly, Killer continued. "We'll be at Fishman Island in another week or so. Until then, keep yourself entertained. From the looks of it, you know nothing about how to work a ship."

Demetra didn't answer, but when he made an impatient noise in his throat, she grumbled out her answer. "No, I don't. Until now, I've never been on a ship before."

Another pause. Then, "I see. That's unfortunate then. Well then, as I said, entertain yourself. And try not to scare the others too much if you start appearing. That's my job."

"R-right." Indeed, who knew her dream world could become this boring as well?

--

"Can this honestly get any more tortuous?" She half ranted, half screamed.

Days later, she was a hundred percent certain that Kidd and Killer aside, no one on the bloody ship would ever be able to notice her, even if she were throwing a temper tantrum right in the middle of the quarterdeck. It was actually something she dearly wanted to try, but she risked Kidd's wrath coming down on her head and decided it wasn't worth throwing one just to see a larger one aimed directly at her.

So she stuck to one-line screams of frustration when she was certain the captain was holed up in his room. Whenever Killer was around, he would simply shoot her an amused 'shut up' and continue on with ignoring her, even though to his eyes, she was clear as the day.

When they were alone though, "Why don't you just go to sleep?" He suggested, actually helpful for once. "You told us that you go to sleep in your world and end up here, and end up getting no sleep whatsoever. That's as good as having insomnia."

Because of her spiriting away and her inability to sleep, Demetra had taken to simply lying down often during the day, not falling asleep but simply letting her body relax. Also increased were the number of relaxing baths and trips to the family massage chair. But sleeping while the ship was boringly drifting underwater? Why hadn't she thought of that?

"Good idea. But where do I sleep?"

Killer shrugged noncommittally but jabbed a thumb down towards the deck. "Use my room." When she didn't move from her spot, he turned his head curiously. "What?"

"Y-your room!" She spluttered, trying to fight down the number of thoughts that were invading her mind telling her how _wrong_ the entire thing sounded.

"Yeah, mine. Is there a problem with that?" He all but growled, suddenly growing very intimidating by sheer presence alone. "I'd put you with the rest of the crew- but even I wouldn't stick a marine down there." Was it just her imagination or did he just shiver? "And Kidd's up in one of those moods again and I have more errands to do around the ship because of that. So I reckon you could probably use my room until you disappear off to wherever else you go."

"T-thanks." She murmured embarrassedly, slipping by him quickly to look for her way down below deck. Still, she decided to play it safe and lock the doors anyways, even if this meant Killer would most likely either have to hire a lock pick or cut down his own doors. "Just consider it karma." Demetra muttered, hearing the satisfying click of the lock.

But fortunately for Killer and unfortunately for whatever god of karma there was present at the moment, Demetra woke up at last and only scowled when she saw the four walls of Killer's room and hoped that it wasn't late.

Undoing the locks and slowly pushing the door open a crack before promptly remembering that she could go right through it (and with that thought, the door fell through her fingers and slammed shut). Several bypassing crewmembers shot hasty looks at the door, and then at each other, before chuckling nervously and walking off as fast as their legs could take them.

"I thought I told you days ago not to make too much of a scene." Whirling around, Demetra wasn't completely surprised to see Killer rounding the bend.

Opting not to make a snappy retort, she asked instead, "What time is it?"

"5" He answered smoothly, striding past her without even gracing her a single glance. "If the currents keep up, we'll be at Fishman Island tomorrow."

"And how's Ki- err… captain… holding up?" She tried, straining to make her voice as serious as possible so that he would not mistaken her question as an insult.

"I am at least ten years too old to be babysitting anyone." Came his ever-swift and sharp response. "Let alone my own captain. If he finds it fit to throw a temper tantrum in his room simply because the sea is finally driving him mad, I will not interfere."

Translation, her mind supplied, Killer had obviously been the 'happy' recipient of Kidd's infamous and newfound temper recently and did not feel like admitting so. Wisely deciding not to press it any further, Demetra almost cried with elation when she felt the familiar sensation of being displaced from the world before the ship spiraled out of existence and she was blinking at the ceiling of her real room.

--

"We're only staying long enough for the log pose to set. Then we're outta here, got that men?"

At their collective nods, Kidd dismissed the entire crew with a mere wave of his hand before wondering to himself what he was going to do on an island completely immersed beneath the ocean.

Well, at the moment, drinking himself senseless didn't seem to be such a bad idea. Killer, who almost seemed to be able to read his captain's mind, sighed as Kidd predictably started to wander off on his own.

Apparently he had been louder than intended, since Kidd returned the noise with a slight glare. "If you don't wanna come, you don't have to."

Killer rolled his eyes from behind his mask but faithfully trailed after his captain anyways. Even though he had only yesterday evening claimed that he was not his captain's babysitter, he still couldn't dispute that he _was _technically supposed to look out for his captain anyways. There was a lot to look out for too, being the first mate of such a reckless, stubborn man and such an occupation had its quirks.

Speaking of quirks… the quirk of the crew was on their tail as well.

It wasn't like he didn't trust her- okay, he really wasn't exactly sure of what he was supposed to feel toward her at all. There was distrust- obviously, since she had been mysteriously tailing them for over a month. And there was curiosity, at how she managed to end up deserving her fate in being transported from between worlds in her dreams. The third was definitely fascination.

There were a variety of things to be fascinated about. And most recently was her newfound weapon she had brought back from her world. It was currently hanging around her belt, bouncing with each step against her thigh. He could only assume that her world was perhaps, more technologically advanced than theirs, and imagined that even the great marine scientist Vegapunk would kill to study the mechanisms of her gun.

"Hey, she's following us." He finally decided to announce, lest she ended up surprising Kidd and causing even more trouble.

"Ignore her." Kidd growled back, stomping into the bar. A hush fell over the entire building, so instead of continuing, he merely found his way to a back table. Once they were all segregated from the rest of the customers, he finally deigned to give her the deadliest glare his foul temper could summon and it did do him justice.

'_Ignore me?'_ She knew better than to snap this out loud but now that she could finally be detected by people who weren't automatically going to bite her head off, it was a little more than depressing that he was just going to ignore her. A nervous bartender skittered by her and placed two glasses on the table before taking off.

Blandly staring at the offered amber-colored drink, Killer shoved the entire thing at the invisible girl, who stared back dumbly, as if asking 'what am I supposed to do with it?' And wasn't he supposed to be ignoring her?

Seeing her taking no action, he asked "Do you drink?"

Offended by the seemingly innocuous question, she shook her head back and forth rapidly. "Hell no! I'm not 21 yet!"

Relishing in the feel of the hot liquid seeping through his body, Kidd slammed the glass back down and reached for the glass Killer had refused. "What does being 21 have to do with drinking?"

"There's a law on that. In my world." Demetra added as she folded her arms stubbornly, not at all missing the drink Killer had forced upon her.

"Two things wrong with that sentence- one, you're not in your world. Two, what are laws to a fucking pirate?" The second glass was empty now. With a small smirk, he shoved the glass back at Demetra, who returned his smile with a strange look of befuddlement. "Refill it." He stated, as if it were supposed to explain everything.

Far be it for her to refuse the order, but at the same time, it made no sense whatsoever. "Aren't people just going to see this floating in mid air?" '_You jerk'_ she added mentally as the growing dread in the pit of her stomach only grew with his grin.

"Well then. Do your best not to be obvious." And then he had the nerve to sit back and shoot her an even cockier grin. "And make it snappy." Kidd added, as if presenting her with the challenge of trying to get a refill wasn't difficult enough.

Of all the- Demetra cut herself off in mid-mental rant and scowled as she reached for the glass. For two tries, her fingers phased through the glass handle before she gave in to hot rage and demanded that the glass just get into her damned hands so she could get the job done and over with. It worked like a charm. The glass was still cold and slightly wet from condensation but at least she could hold it. Without another word or even bothering to excuse herself, Demetra simply decided that most of the people hanging around the bar would most likely be far too inebriated to notice the random glass hovering around the tables.

Oh how she wished everything were that simple. Of course things could never be simple, and it was about damn time she began to admit it! She was accident-prone, disaster-prone, danger-prone, and everything else-prone!

"Captain, there's someone coming." The polar bear spoke up and Demetra instinctively cursed her disaster-'prone-ness' when she saw that the bear was looking right at her and the glint in his pitch black eyes told her that he wasn't looking through her or at anything else.

The Heart Pirates were gathered at another table, 'coincidentally' right next to the self-serve barrels of beer. Furiously, Demetra whirled on her feet and returned Kidd's earlier favor with her own intense glare, knowing full well that her emotions were probably causing her to completely appear to his eyes but she could have cared less because he was still smirking with amusement written all over his face and it was only causing those emotions to grow. Fine, she'd show him!

With steely determination glinting in her eyes, Demetra proudly squared her shoulders and stepped past the polar bear and Trafalgar Law, who merely waved cheerily at her as if she were some old acquaintance or close friend. Unsure whether he could see her or still only be able to sense her, Demetra returned the wave before sticking the glass under the nozzle and watching with great satisfaction as the amber liquid frothed as it gathered in the glass.

She would admit though, that after going through the trouble of retrieving glass after glass of beer, she really wanted something more than just an acknowledging grunt!

"Stop staring."

"Huh?" Broken from her internal dialogue, Demetra's vision refocused into clarity, and realized with growing anxiety that she had been staring thoughtfully at her captain without actually meaning to.

Sometime during the entire thing, Killer had excused himself to go off somewhere, which left Kidd and Demetra by themselves. But she had been far too busy running back and forth between the refill counter and the table to actually notice all of this. Which left her alone. At a table. With Eustass Kidd. In a bar. Where no one could see her or help her, not like they would have, anyhow. Well there was always the Heart Pirates but… she wasn't anything more to them other than a passing acquaintance.

And to worsen matters, he wasn't drunk yet. Slightly tipsy, but it took a lot more before anyone could fully diagnose him as drunk. So the dagger he was reaching for could, and would hit its mark if he chose to fling it, and if it didn't hit her, it would most likely start a riot in the bar. Although, it was also very likely the dagger wouldn't even be leaving its sheath. Over the month, she had learned much, unintentionally, about the crew, from the newest recruits to the captain himself. Kidd reaching for his dagger only indicated that he was either annoyed, on guard, or in a sadistic mood. And somehow, she doubted it was the second one. And hopefully it wasn't the last one.

When he narrowed his eyes darkly, Demetra quickly averted them as fast as she could, praying that he would not pursue the 'offense'. Another part of her brain screamed at her to dodge through the walls and just get away from the man and run, run, run. The rational part of her mind urged her to take a deep breath and calm down. If she were calm, the dagger wouldn't even be able to touch her and there was nothing he could do to harm her.

But when he didn't move to fling the dagger toward her head or anything, she slowly looked back up.

Kidd was regarding her with some form of strange apathy. "You're pretty stupid, aren't you?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Wh-what?" Demetra spluttered, losing all of her composure with those words. Stupid? Stupid??? What the hell did he mean by that? And how could he so abruptly swap personalities like that so quickly? It almost made her envious of him.

With another laugh, he pushed the dagger back into its sheath, causing Demetra to visibly relax to a degree. There was still so much Kidd could do, even without a weapon. "Sitting there like a deer caught in headlights. Doesn't that make you as dumb as they are?"

"…I thought-"

"If that's what you're like when you think, then don't!" He snapped- in such an authoritative tone Demetra felt like she was back in school being scolded by a teacher.

Slowly, she could feel all her anger at his previous statement seeping away and she missed the warmth it had brought her. Maybe she had been mistaken. Maybe he _was_ drunk or something. Well then! That was the warning bell screaming at her to start running soon.

Her discomfort did not go unnoticed by Kidd, who had only begun to raise his hand to do who knew what to her.

That was enough. Demetra shot out of her seat and tried to throw herself through the wall to run like crazy, but instead of phasing through, she felt a crunching pain in her shoulder as she slammed against the solid wall. Panicking urgently, Demetra slid her fingers against the wall, trying to find something, some sort of weakness in the wall she could leap through- but the problem wasn't the wall or anything else. It was her. Once more, fear had successfully encaged her- leaving her stranded with Kidd, and the outstretched hand and eerie grin offered no comfort whatsoever.

Then something on her belt snapped and Demetra fell flat into the cushions, jerking in surprise. Since when had she been pulling against something? Then her eyes narrowed angrily but she did her best not to show it. What had he hoped to accomplish by casting one of his magnetic fields around her?

Of course, that left her captain sitting somewhat bemusedly, as well as confusedly towards what… appeared to be a large black strange looking weapon wrapped in its holster that had leapt into his hands. Demetra gaped in horror, her fingers already patting down her sides, looking for said gun as if the one in his hand was just an illusion. Hopelessness began to set in instantly when her hands brushed through the air. Now she was weaponless, _and_ escape-less.

But when she looked up fearfully, he wasn't even looking at her. Instead, he was tilting the gun in his hands with curious eyes. Obviously the shape was a dead-giveaway as to what it was but still- it was unlike any gun he had ever seen.

"What is…this?"

The atmosphere of fear was slowly dying down and Demetra sat up blinking. "Um… a gun?" Suddenly she was staring down at the wrong end of the weapon, accompanied with another devilish glare of annoyance from the red-haired man. "Eep!"

"I know what it is! But…" He struggled to find the right words.

"It's a gun from my world." She quickly supplied, never taking her eyes off the muzzle. "A semi-automatic. It was a gift…" Fantastic, now she was rambling.

It was heavy in his hands, but not as heavy as his own, which currently dangled from his bandolier. And judging by the offensive looks a group of drunkards were shooting him, he'd soon have the pleasure of trying out the new toy his newest crewmember had brought with her. Hesitantly, Demetra's gaze followed his harsh glare over to where the jeering men sat, guiltily relieved that the gun was no longer pointed at her. At first, the trigger would not budge, and he gave Demetra another demanding look.

"R-remove t-the safety." She whispered quietly, looking down in shame. What he wanted, what he was about to do, it was all too obvious and she was too weak-willed to stop any of it.

Safety, safety… oh. With a flick of his thumb, it was gone and his grin returned with a vengeance. Time to have some fun.

One of them noticed the strange gun in his hands and his lip curled back into a snarl while his hands plunged beneath the table for something. That was all the reason Kidd needed and with a dark sneer on his face, he pointed the weapon and fired once, causing the drunk to jerk violently and collapse. Instantly, his friends were up brandishing knives and other pistols, shooting drunkenly into the crowd and completely missing Kidd by yards.

While the bar was rousing itself into chaos, Kidd merely set up a powerful magnetic field around himself as well as his new charge, tuned out the roars of the inebriated leaping to draw blood among each other, and turned the odd, futuristic gun over several times in his hands, wondering how it reloaded. There seemed to be nothing indicating that he could stick bullets in. Stepping to the side to avoid someone who had foolishly decided to fling themselves at him, he shrugged and pointed the gun down and pulled again, intending more to frighten the idiot before killing him. To his shock, a second loud bang went off and blood began to pool around his feet.

A beer glass sailed past his head and he pointed the newfound weapon at the offender's head and fired again and a third blast shook the air. A gun that reloaded on its own without him having to do anything? Oh, everything related to that girl was only getting better and better. Said girl was currently pressing herself against the wall as if she wished she were a part of it.

Like hell he was going to give it back, especially since she had been so stupid to keep it hanging by a pin on her belt. He reached for his own gun and frowned. The muzzle of the modernistic gun was far wider and the overall model was larger than what his bandolier could hold.

A full set of kitchen cutlery slammed into his range of magnetism and were all instantly repelled in different angles back at the crowd. Only then did Kidd remember that he was in the middle of yet another bar fight and scoffed, ducking another beer glass- which emptied its amber contents all over him as it sailed by. A squawk from behind and Kidd turned around briefly to see Demetra covered completely in the rest of the beer, her hands in the air with the glass in her hands, indicating that she had just very narrowly missed getting beheaded by a beer glass.

The fear was still evident in her eyes, but now there was something else. Anger. And maybe resentment at being dragged into this entire thing, but Kidd only focused on that sudden hard glint in her eyes.

Suddenly, Demetra was desperately wishing that she had her gun back. Or at least her pole, so she could knock some of these idiots out without having to kill them. The person who had thrown the glass was laughing uproariously and rage suddenly filled her, streaking through each and every vein in her body as she stood, gripping the glass so tightly she thought it would shatter in her hands. Drawing her arm back, she flung it as hard as she could at the man's head, growling with satisfaction as it collided with the side of his head. The drunkard slumped to the floor, blood flowing from a gash on his head.

Already her fury had taken a toll on her but Demetra didn't care. Through a hazy red vision, she looked around at the occupants of the bar. Some were shifty-looking, others were clearly involved with some under the table dealings. Many probably had victims of their own and would probably only have more in the future. Neighbors punched and shot at neighbors. People who shared tables lunged for each others throats. Filth. Scum. Every last one of these people! Something heavy and warm dropped into her hands and unknowingly, she accepted it, embraced the empowerment it seemed to give her.

"_Look at us, we've taken to the streets, we've done our share of crimes with our dealings but who have we hurt? No one! The people who buy and sell our stuff hurt themselves and we know it and we can't do anything for them. We're too good for the streets, Demetra."_

Saber's words rang strong in her mind but Demetra forcefully batted them away. For far too long she had let Saber's words rule her life. His morals, his behavior, everything of his, she had made into a role model. And where had that got her? Betrayed! Saber was smart and in the end, she would still end up using his knowledge if she needed it but even he manned up and admitted the truth to everything, he would be her leader and idol no more.

"Who have we hurt? 'No one'. But the people who bought our stuff hurt others because of it." Her fingers tightened and Demetra realized that whatever Kidd had pressed into her hands was still there. It was a gun- _his_ gun. "So in the end- we still hurt people. Saber, you ninny. We still helped. There is no being 'too good for' the streets." '_I hurt people too. On Sabaody. I caused an admiral to come… who knows how many futures I've destroyed already. But… that doesn't mean I should embrace it. Or lower myself to their level.'_ Her gun arm trembled as her inner conflict worsened.

Her captain was lazily weaving through the bar, dodging stray bullets and knives with the grace of a swan while returning shots that did not miss. Perhaps he would never consider her anything more than a burden that appeared on his ship every day- but ultimately, it would always be his ship she appeared on and there was no stopping it.

But…

Even though her hands were trembling, Demetra could feel it happening. That rush, that oh so familiar stirring throwing its head back inside her, bellowing as it was being called upon at last again. For far too long she had snuffed it out, suppressed it and denied it. Raw, unadulterated sensations of flight, power, and exhilaration. For Saber, it was something he had denied and abandoned in the end. For Kidd, it was something he embraced and made a part of himself.

And for Demetra? It was something simply far, far overdue.

* * *

So... here's to me, hoping that the next chapter will come out from my head more easily than this one. Took me forever to coax it out.

Reviews, comments, etc are welcome!

-Kagetaka


	15. The Dreamer, A Mystery

**Chapter Fourteen**

**The Dreamer, a Mystery**

He'd recognized it the moment he looked at her. The look of someone who had known the joy and pain of life. No, not just living but life, down to its most primal level. At first, he'd denied seeing it. It was a look that didn't belong on someone as delicate and painfully shy as Demetra. She'd probably run from that life the moment she scraped the surface of it like the coward she was.

But he wasn't too quick to completely toss away the idea either. If she was going to be stuck with his crew, then it was time to bring out that other side. And what the hell- from personal experience, anger was the best way to lure it out. The fact that she was completely soaked with beer and narrowly avoided being clobbered by the glass was a welcome catalyst. So he'd fanned the fire and deposited his own gun into her lap. And suddenly, that spark had erupted into a blazing wildfire.

"Wouldn't… this… be easier… if we had our own guns?" Demetra panted from the exertion of it all. Even now, she refused to abandon her own morals, firing only at those who pointed their guns at her or her captain. It was with great pains she took care not to hit any vital spots either. Killing was still way over her head and it wasn't something she was going to try and partake in anytime soon… or at least, she hoped. Someone returned fire and although she knew that Kidd was still protecting her with his magnetic field, Demetra yanked at the trigger to get nothing but clicks. "Goddamnit~! How the hell does this thing work?"

"Reload it!" Kidd shouted, laughing as he slashed his arm through the air, sending stolen knives, guns, forks, and spoons everywhere.

"Do you always try taking out your allies with your enemies?" She shrieked, ducking a spoon as it narrowly missed striking her head. "With _WHAT_?"

"Bullets, little girl." Surprisingly, he had not allowed the magnetism around the two of them to drop for even a second.

"I know that! I haven't got any though!" A tick appeared on her forehead. "And my name's Demetra!" she snarled back, far too caught up in the rush to really care about insulting her captain inadvertently.

"Psh. In this world, your name means nothing until you make one for yourself, got it, midget?"

Another tick appeared. "Well if you're gonna call me something, at least be consistent about it!" Although to be fair, she was quite short anyways but- back on the matter at hand, it didn't matter if it was true, she didn't want to be called midget everywhere she went!

Kidd gave her another look over his shoulder. They were now back to back with each other. Demetra, who had returned the empty gun to her pockets merely had her tiny fists balled up, but appearance were deceiving when it came to her and she knew exactly where to hit to ensure that her attackers did not get up again. They'd be fine… in perhaps a day or two.

"Alright then, Doll." He smirked, settling on the choice he knew would infuriate her most. And he wasn't at all disappointed as a shriek rang through the air.

"_Doll_?"

He glared at her, as if daring her to change his mind about it but she only returned it with equal vigor while pursing her lips unpleasantly. "Yep. Doll. And it looks like you don't need them." Kidd thought aloud, thinking about the bullets. "You're doing just fine on your own."

Was the arrogant pirate captain really complimenting her on something at last? Horrified to feel her spirit rise, Demetra quashed it down as forcibly as she had with Saber's words. Just because the man was her captain did NOT mean she would strive to seek his approval, of all things! Especially now, with that… ridiculous… nickname!

"Thanks, I think." She muttered anyways, jabbing at someone's chin before switching to target their solar plexus. The man, stunned by the initial blow to his jaw, toppled over after the second strike. "Reminder to self to bring knuckles next time."

A wide splatter of blood arched over their heads and in an instant, Killer was back, flanking both Demetra and Kidd at the same time with both scythes whirling angrily. Even though she was glad to see another fighter on their side, the fact that she was now covered in both alcohol _and_ blood caused her stomach to twist unpleasantly and she cursed the masked man under her breath. Could he honestly be any more messy?

Having returned from his quick 'stroll' outside (he'd caught some leery members of the bar making several suggestive passes at him- implying that they'd believed him a woman in their drunkenness and he had personally dragged them outside to rectify that problem), Killer was hardly surprised to see the entire place already going to hell, with his captain standing in the center of it all. However, what he was surprised by was the entirely clear form of Demetra with her fists tightly clenched as she promptly struck at someone's solar plexus before finishing up with a quick snap kick to the groin. So the kitten had sprouted fangs and claws. He smirked, drawing both weapons and leaping into the fray, sending a glorious arc of blood over their heads as he joined the other two. It was about damn time too.

Kicking aside an attacker and deflecting a sword at the same time, Killer chuckled lowly as the three pressed against each other in their defensive formation. "Good god Kidd. All the bars are going to start refusing us entry if you keep this up."

Kidd's biggest grin had returned when his first mate made his entrance. "Ah shut up. I'd personally like to see them try." Several people fell back, knives sticking in their flesh. Demetra broke another nose and squeaked as the man almost collapsed on top of her. "It would make for some wonderful amusement!"

"By the way, Demetra-san." Killer's voice was deceptively neutral, almost completely detached from the fight. His already blood-covered appearance, however, screamed otherwise. "You're completely visible."

Demetra rolled her eyes but nodded. She had kind of figured that out when the people of the bar had literally began lunging for her, rather than for through her and at Kidd's back. And thankfully, someone still seemed to remember her name!

"She's Dolly now!" Kidd crowed as he forcibly upturned a table, grinning as he heard the sickening crunch of glass shattering and people screaming over their cuts.

No- just no. Was he drunk or not? She just couldn't seem to figure him out! "Just Doll!" She screamed back, sparing no one a second look. If they went down, hopefully they were down. How long was this going to keep up? She had no such inhumane stamina like Kidd or Killer! It took several jabs in all the right places for the next one to go down.

"Dolly's cuter for a cute girl like you." Her captain called back in a deceptively mocking tone. With a finger, he flicked a series of kitchen knives away. Privately, he laughed to himself. This was really too much fun!

Now he was being unnecessarily cruel. Or definitely drunk. Yes, she would settle for that poor and shabby excuse. Her captain was drunk, so she would graciously ignore all the ridiculous things he was calling her. Sadly, her resolve to excuse her captain was as shabby as the excuse itself, and Demetra found herself palming her face exasperatedly in the middle of battle.

Meanwhile, off in his snug little corner, Trafalgar Law slowly sipped at his beer, watching the proceedings amusedly. Occasionally he would cast a small 'room' and deflect a wayward beer glass or chair from his crew's path.

"Captain- should we?" One of his crewmates asked uncertainly.

"No. Leave them." He stated languidly as he swirled his drink around. Another 'room' formed beneath his fingers and he swapped a flying fork for another full tankard of un-drunken beer, offering it to the giant former slave beside him. If free drinks were being offered, he'd hardly refuse.

--

"Hah…haaaah…. Daaaamn." She was bent over on the ground, swallowing mouthfuls of air as if she had never breathed before in her life.

It was everywhere and now that she was finally coming down from her high, she could almost taste it in the air with each gulp she took into her lungs. And it was very close to making her sick.

Blood. Those who were dead lay in a half circle surrounding Kidd and Killer and those who were unconscious lay scattered everywhere else. The bar was silent and dark, the lights having been shot to pieces by wayward bullets some time during the entire fiasco. Glass lay strewn in a mosaic, and puddles of alcohol, tainted with the splatter of crimson blood covered the slick wooden floors.

The bar was silent. Only her panting and the low breaths of the unconscious could be heard. Trying not to feel like the weak link, Demetra chanced a look at her captain and his first mate and groaned mentally. They hardly even looked winded! And they were even smiling! What the hell was up with this world's people and their monstrous stamina???

Slowly licking her lips and tasting the tang of sweat and blood running down her face, Demetra stood with some difficulty, swaying violently and clutching at an upturned table leg in order to stabilize her trembling body. She had not gotten away without a scratch or two. A well aimed piece of glass had nearly taken out her left eye and now her forehead sported a nasty gash that was still lazily trickling blood. Every muscle in her arms and legs were sore and screaming their discomfort and they showed it by causing her arms to shake sporadically.

Only one word could truly describe her situation. Lucky. Almost everyone in the bar had pulled a gun out and she received her fair share of bullets from just about every barrel. But not-so-miraculously, each and every one had been caught and repelled by an invisible force surrounding her.

Footsteps resounded throughout the quiet bar and all three pirates turned to face the new intruder, then relaxed. Only somewhat. Demetra slumped again but the other two pirates tensed.

"Trafalgar." Kidd greeted with a customary sneer.

"Eustass-ya." The other pirate captain seemed to survey the state of the entire bar, taking in the remnants of the fight first before lazily flickering his eyes over the three Kidd Pirates. Lastly, his eyes fell to Demetra and his eyes widened with recognition. "Aha- the shy one from the auction house, I thought it was you when you came by to fetch a drink."

Demetra squeaked and scooted away quickly. She had seen what he could do with those strange powers of his and she had no intention of being caught in the middle of his abilities any time soon. "Uh… h-hi?"

"And does the shy Miss 'Dolly' have a name?" Law asked slyly, taking another step forward, noting the sudden tensing among all three of them. Suddenly, his path was blocked by a set of angry red eyes and the tall red-head those eyes belonged to, fingering his dagger threateningly.

"Was there something you wanted from me, Trafalgar?"

Finally after boring holes into Demetra with his eyes, the smoky-eyed pirate focused on the larger threat in front of his face but merely shook his head with a deceptively serene smile and opened his hand, dumping several bullets onto the ground. They bounced and clattered everywhere, rolling away into the shadows. "Just wanted to return them." He shrugged, pocketing his hands. "But I digress. It was an unnecessary gesture."

"And a very likely tale." He snarled in response, causing all the scattered knives, guns, forks, spoons, and every other metallic thing in the bar to begin trembling.

Again, Law shrugged flippantly and ignored the obvious threat. "Just curious about the Miss hiding behind your back." He said, turning on his heel and returning to his corner without another word.

Was he actually ignoring him? _That_ would not do. His lips curled into a sneer as he raised a hand and directed it right at the back of his rival, who stopped in his tracks and tilted his head only slightly to peer over his shoulder, yet made no other indication that he was ready for a fight. Meanwhile, the other Heart Pirates had all gone for their weapons, Bepo already standing with his captain's nodachi in hand.

"I-I'm Demetra."

Said girl winced as her voice seemed to bounce everywhere inside the motionless bar. The departing pirate was intrigued enough to turn around fully once more and smile at the girl, who timidly returned it with a slight grin and another wave.

"Trafalgar Law," He replied lightly, giving a playful bow as if the glaring red-head hadn't just introduced him. "It's quite a rarity to see women on the seas nowadays, but you wouldn't happen to be the first or the last. But the little show you put on just now _was _interesting."

"O-oh?" Demetra stammered, not certain what he meant by that.

"Mmhmm." Law hummed. "The wonders of knowing the human body. Makes quite an impact on how we fight, ne?" Suddenly, that friendly look no longer appeared so carefree, and more speculative.

At a complete loss as to what to say, Demetra remained staunchly silent while her mind fled, startled by the sudden sharpness in the smoky-eyed pirate's eyes. Had she somehow offended him or was he merely interested in how a common girl with barely any fighting experience worth talking about knew all the weak points of the human body?

The pirate captain swiftly nodded farewell and slowly made his way back to the table his crew was at and sat down once more. Giving the Heart Pirate's captain one final derogatory sneer, Kidd kicked aside several bodies, seizing Demetra by the wrist as he did so and pulling her along after him. Demetra had the feeling he wouldn't appreciate being used as a walking stick, so she urged her legs to shuffle after him, trying not to stumble over corpses and the unconscious.

So concentrated she was on walking, that when something big, black, and red suddenly covered her range of vision, she shrieked and almost tripped. Luckily, his hand was still on hers and she managed to straighten herself again, noticing what, exactly, had surprised her, for the first time.

Her semi-auto was being dangled in front of her face. "Um…" The weapon was dripping blood everywhere. "W-what about it?" She asked uncertainly.

"Do you want this back?" Kidd repeated, annoyed.

A particularly thick clot of blood plopped to the ground, and that alone sealed the deal for her. "No." She said, a little too quickly as she fell back, disgust written all over her face. "You can have it." _'Get it away from me!'_ Her mind screamed, but she kept her rampant mouth shut before she ended up saying anything damning. "Have fun."

He sneered, slightly disappointed he wouldn't be able to take it her while she was unwilling, but nevertheless pleased with his new weapon. "Fine. I wasn't planning on returning it."

Demetra rolled her eyes, unsure whether she felt annoyed or glad. _That_ had been predictable. '_What a jerk…'_ she thought, for the umpteenth time about the same man. "You can have the rest of the cartridges then. What about this?" She asked, waving the gun he had given her around for emphasis.

Seizing the barrel of the gun, he slipped it from her sweaty hands effortlessly. "I think we'd all be in danger if you tried using that. Go find yourself a new toy, dolly."

'_Boys.'_ Demetra thought exasperatedly as they began walking again, not really regretting the absence of the weapon. Worlds apart and regardless of lifestyle, vocation, or behavior, they were fundamentally the same. His hand was still firmly clasped on her wrist and it was beginning to hurt as he dragged her along. Why the hell did he have to use so much force anyways? It wasn't like she was actively 'stalking' him anymore or had any reason to flee from him at the moment.

Seconds later, she had to swallow her own thoughts as her dreams began to melt in a whirlpool of colors and light while the inane screeching of her alarm clock drowned out whatever Kidd was trying to say.

--

"That… was interesting." Killer stated, with the barest hint of interest in his voice. "I've seen her appear, but I've never watched her disappear."

"It looked painful." Fisting his now-empty hand, Kidd let his arm drop down to his side. "Heh. This might not be so bad after all. Finally something interesting's happening to us again. Now, it'd be even more interesting if we got rid of some of those nauseating inhibitions of hers."

Even with Demetra's sudden vanishing act, the two had not hesitated long, and were already well on their way back. "Have you decided what she role she could play yet?" Killer asked slowly.

"Cabin boy." He retorted, not even bothering to switch the gender for the title. "She can work under you." The stark silence that met his response was enough to tell Kidd that his first mate was annoyed with the suggestion. "Che. Weren't you complaining about having to do all those rounds around the ship? Why the hell don't you make someone else do it? No one's gonna argue with you."

"_Some_ people, are hardly competent enough to perform basic functions like thinking."

Kidd shrugged again. "The girl's a civilian though. She's got nothing going for her except brains, maybe."

Scoffing slightly, Killer turned his head. "Funny, I seem to recall you griping about how stupid and cowardly civilians were."

"Hey, if you don't want her, just say so."

Now that he thought about it, the girl was definitely both and neither at the same time. From what he had gleaned of her, she was a civilian, but at the same time, had a submerged personality that couldn't have ever been created had she been a normal, boring everyday person.

Demetra Traumer had a secret and a past. And both would become known to him, if he had anything to say about it.

* * *

Alright people. College is upon me and Midterms are going to slaughter me. .

Dunno how many of you are still following this but chapter updates are going to be quite random from now on, depending on how busy I am.

-Kagetaka


	16. The Dreamer, Unheard

...I never expected in all my time as a member that any of my stories would ever become this demanded. I'm quite honored. I also apologize for the long break, and admit that I have no idea if I can continue updating on regular intervals because of how demanding and fast paced summer school is.

Still, before this went on hiatus, I had a general idea of how it would go. So I hope I can fully throw it out on paper and get it up...

Thank you all for your patience and encouragement! It really did help me get through this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

**The Dreamer, Unheard**

The first thing she did was to shoot out of bed glaring as she anguished over her ruined clothing that had somehow followed her back from the other world. Beer and blood was all over her jacket and her jeans were completed ruined.

That was the first thing. The second was the realization that somehow, she had to dispose of the evidence.

'_Great. The first thing I need to do is start thinking like a criminal'_ she reiterated in her mind as the little voice inside her head reminded her that she technically WAS a real criminal now, just another world away, in her dreams. Ha. In her dreams. Now she couldn't use that phrase as easily as before.

But before she could even slip her fingers between the buttons, she heard the tell-tale sounds of someone clunking up the stairs. Only then, did she realize that her diary was missing and the latch on her door was undone. Someone had snuck in- what if- then…

She was fucked.

As close as she was to screaming out her little brother's name in unadulterated frustration, Demetra was still sound enough of rational mind to quickly kick the now-antique gun under the bed and dive after it, struggling and squirming to fit herself beneath the mattress. Dumb idea- it had been her favorite hiding spot as a child and Kyle knew that. But she could hope, couldn't she?

He knew he shouldn't have done it, but he did so anyways. He had snuck into his sister's room as she was sleeping. Or at least, when she should have been sleeping.

Instead, he had come upon an empty room devoid of life. He had checked under the bed and found nothing. Then he had spotted the diary on a pile of dirty laundry and wondered if she had still been writing nonsense and fairy tales in it and picked it up out of a whim. And now, he was coming to return it just in case his sister came back from whatever nightly excursion she was on.

Kyle pushed open the door, not expecting at all the sight that greeted him.

Demetra flinched when she heard his gasp of fright. Right. She had left blood on her sheets. And beer.

Just then Kyle's face appeared beneath the bed and Demetra stared back at her younger brother's stunned and horrified face.

"Demetra," was all Kyle could say when he saw his sister's pale and equally horrified expression as their coal-black eyes met. He swore his world was crashing down on him at this very instant. "How… why? How could you do this? I thought- I _thought you were better than this!_" Then stood back up, disappearing from sight and his shoes started quickly retreating back down the stairs before Demetra could stop him or explain.

Shit. She was in trouble now. She had no way of explaining either the beer or the blood, and there was no way to prove her innocence, but the truth would only land her in an asylum.

"Pirate, you're a pirate, think like a pirate, do like a pirate. Alright, let's bust out." She muttered to herself, trying to rapidly pull some harebrained plan to get her out of jail or the asylum together. Pulling on the same inner strength that had driven her into the earlier bar fight, the raven-haired girl shot out from the bed with equal vigor. There was no point in explaining herself, Kyle's panicked shouts, her mother's shriek, and her father's furious voice was all the inspiration she needed to swing around and latch her door with a solid click. Acting upon instinct, she lugged the heaviest piece of furniture she could find, hardly believing that she was actually doing so with her scrawny arms. Yet the adrenaline rush hadn't ended, and the couch was soon securely lodged against the door in such a way that it touched on the foot of her bed, doubling the strength of the temporary and shabbily built barrier. Feet were now pounding up the stairs.

Still hyped by the rush, Demetra wasn't thinking when she threw open her closet, searching for… there it was!

Her hand quickly shot out and snatched the club and without a second of hesitation, she plunged it against the only window in her room. The thin glass broke instantly without any resistance, sending a shower of diamonds onto the ground.

Demetra set on foot on the rim and stuck her head out. In the background, she could hear the drumming of her parents and Kyle's frantic beating on the door. They'd probably heard the glass shatter and probably guessed her next move as well. Kyle was screaming something incoherent but her mother's high pitched voice was pleading with her. Her father, on the other hand, was furiously bellowing, demanding that she open the door and face them. She could do neither.

Her other foot left the ground, until she was perched on the windowsill, looking up at the sky like a flightless bird that knew its fate the moment it jumped and attempted to take flight. Below her was the slant of the bright red roof shingles. Falling from this height, there would be nothing to stop her from slipping off those shingles and smashing into the ground anyways.

The couch suddenly slid askew and the door was flung open. Demetra didn't stop to see the looks of horror or shock on her parents face when they saw the condition of the room nor did she pause to say good-bye to her well-meaning but misled brother. And the caged bird took flight at once.

The shingles tore at her skin and boots as she slid down and off the edge just like she had predicted. Quickly, she rolled around just before her lower half left the roof and dangled precariously just for one elongated second in the air before she jammed all the strength she had into her fingers and managed to catch the very end of the roof. Daringly, one hand left the edge and dove into her pocket, retrieving a knife, which was forcibly jammed all the way into the wall of the home. It would provide a temporary hold so she could approach the ground. Her brother had his head stuck outside the window and was looking at her as if he had never met her before.

"Demetra, jump! I've got you!"

She started, almost slipping from the roof, but Demetra held strong. That voice! It was… "Saber!" She cried out, never having been so happy to see him in the past half-year or so.

The dark-haired boy was racing out from behind the large enclosement of well-trimmed bushes and headed directly her way with a fierce glint of determination in his eyes, arms outstretched ready to catch her.

Maybe he really had changed since the last time they had been together- as a whole team. Maybe, just maybe, now she could rely on her leader once more.

Meanwhile, Kyle raced to the window with other thoughts in mind. "You!" he screamed, almost completely leaping out the window as he focused a deadly glare on the gang leader. By now, he was seeing red and wishing his sister's knife in his hands. How dare that trash show his face here again! "You bastard! Stop corrupting my sister, you fucking piece of street trash!"

Saber snarled something incoherent in response, but at that moment, Demetra decided: now or never. She'd gone too far to stop, reached the point of no return, and there was nothing to do but to let go. Slipping the unused knife back into her pocket, Demetra glanced down at Saber and tried her damned best to convey to him the trust she was currently placing in him. Then let go.

Instantly, she was bundled into his arms, but Demetra let out a horrified gasp when she realized she was still falling. The world spun crazily around her, as the surroundings of her home blurred and distorted, giving away to pure blue, until she almost thought she was flying through the sky.

Saber gasped in shock- followed by an exclamation from Kyle as the two suddenly saw Demetra vanish, as if she had never fallen. Meanwhile, the diary that had been clutched ever so tightly in Kyle's hand, which had been forgotten until now, fell with a disgraceful sigh to the ground.

* * *

"Traumer- get the fuck off me- RIGHT NOW!"

She hadn't noticed, but whoever she was pressed against, certainly wasn't Saber. No, Saber was barely taller than her and whoever this was much bulkier, harder, and was that red hair- oh shit.

With a hastily squeaked apology, Demetra shot off of her captain and retreated as far away as she could get, pressing herself against the railing. Her submissiveness didn't seem to help though- Kidd had even forgotten to refer to her as Dolly.

Instantly, she began to babble without really thinking. "S-sorry! I just jumped off a roof and I- Saber was supposed to catch me and I just blacked out and I'm sorry! My parents-they think- they're really pissed off right now, I can't go back there ever, just- urk!"

Suddenly, she was being hauled into the air by the collar of her leather jacket as she was put face to face with her severely annoyed captain. Why, oh why did this kind of thing ALWAYS happen to her and her alone?

Kidd just so happened to be thinking among the same lines. Why was it that out of all the crews in the world, it was his that got landed with this strange, otherworldly, ghost-girl who couldn't make up her mind when to exist or not? It happened when he was least expecting it, when he was merely coming out to discuss something with Killer, who happened to be on lookout duty at the moment. Instead, something small and rather decently heavy had come flying out of nowhere right towards him. In less than a second, he found himself on the floor of his own ship's deck with the ship's resident half-existent weirdo on top of him, and would have found it amusing and made a couple smart suggestive quips, if it were not for the fact she was STILL covered in blood and beer from earlier. Immediately, he roared at her to get off and when the newest recruit to his crew did so, she went on to begin babbling something about parents and piss- oh hell no, she better NOT have pissed herself on top of him.

Not one for listening to nonsense, Kidd did what he did best and shut her up with promises of bodily suffering.

"First you go missing on us, then you come flying out of nowhere. Now repeat everything you just said- slowly." He emphasized the last word, drawing it out as if she were some unintelligent beast.

Resisting the urge to try and get him to put her feet back on the ground where they belonged, Demetra started again, rasping slightly as the collar dug into her throat. "I- my parents… found out… blood on my sheets… and … tried to run for it but… had to jump out the window. My friend Saber… was supposed to catch me but… I must have blacked out…"

Clearly unimpressed, he did not release her or note her discomfort. Instead, a slow, demeaning sneer spread across his face. "Pathetic. Now shut up and get up. And do something about your surprise appearances, Traumer. You're starting to really piss me off!"

Coughing, more out of embarrassment this time, Demetra shook her head. "Er… sir…? I always appear right on this spot…"

"She does." Killer supplied, rather unhelpfully, in her opinion, from high above in the lookout's nest- almost like he was trying to get her killed or something by throwing more wood to her funeral pyre. The wind rifling through Kidd's hair didn't help the effect.

Instead of killing her like she had half-expected him to do, Kidd dropped her like a sack of potatoes and started to stalk off towards the cabins. A little ways away, he turned back and eyed her darkly. "Coming, Dolly?"

Spluttering her indignant protests, Demetra quickly scrambled to her feet, not feeling too eager to find out what would happen if she refused. "Y-yes sir!"

"Captain." He remedied shortly. "Or boss."

Demetra deflated. What was it with such pickiness? Sir, Captain, Boss- weren't they practically all implying the same thing? Namely, the fact of his superiority, that he didn't need further swelling his head? "Yes, captain…" She muttered lowly. She was wavering again- Saber was slowly climbing his way back into her thoughts and he _had _come before Kidd, so technically that would make him the 'boss'?

A little ways down into the interior of the ship, Kidd turned around and jabbed a thumb roughly against the door they'd stopped in front of. "Recognize this?"

"…No?" Demetra asked, hesitantly.

"Didn't expect you to." Kidd grunted in response. "Until you learn to show up properly, you'll be the crew's little secret. What our enemies can't hit, see, or hear… they can't do jack shit to. This is Killer's training room." With that, he held his hand out in front of the lock and several seconds later, it came unlatched with a click thanks to his magnetism. "You'll be spending time down here with Killer- that ability of yours is useful, but not if you're gonna panic every time someone sticks a gun in your face. Killer's the most level-headed one on the ship…. Well, lately, he's been acting kind of strangely, but still! You're gonna learn how to manage those emotions of yours, and when you do, we're gonna see to it that you get yourself a bounty poster!"

She'd been silent all up till now. "Wait- why would I want one of those?"

Kidd laughed- and Demetra decided she didn't like it one bit at all. "There ain't a person alive on my crew without one! Best get yourself at least THAT much insurance, Dolly!"

Her mind started working into overdrive. In other words, Kidd would not tolerate her unknown status for long, despite its usefulness. No- the only crew fitting to be that of the future pirate king, had to be the most notorious one on the seas!

Sighing in resignation, she nodded. "Fine. I get it. When does Killer spend time down here?"

Slowly, another sneer spread across Kidd's face and Demetra suddenly experienced a déjà vu moment- that she didn't like this smile one bit at all either. "Hm. I might have forgotten to tell him about all of this. Why don't you go find out?" Laughing none too kindly, he turned and left. "Consider it a test!" He called back.

But already, Demetra was coming down from her earlier high and her frayed nerves had finally began repairing themselves. Taking a deep breath, she nodded again. She could do this. But before she could take another step, she almost planted into a tanned chest and a wall of white polka dots on black.

Killer was looking down at her, dispassionate as ever. "…What are you doing here?" His statement was neither accusing nor angry, merely as flat as his non-existent expression. "…And why was Kidd laughing like an idiot?"

The last question actually betrayed some annoyed curiosity, but Demetra stifled down her giggle. "He's just being captain, as usual." She replied.

Unseen, Killer raised an eyebrow. 'Dolly' seemed unusually calm now but her heartbeat still gave it away. "Half truth, half lie. Kidd's always been an idiot, so I won't fault you for that." He stated, taking a step closer. "But I don't suffer liars well." Here, one of his scythes snapped onto his wrist.

Be honest. Okay. She could manage that… Demetra backed away slightly, already feeling her heart begin leaping in anticipation for Killer's attack. No- fighting was not supposed to be her job. Biting down on her lower lip, she tried taking a deep breath. Her job was to stay cool. Stay cooler than even Killer so her opponents would waste their time trying to get her.

But before she could speak, Killer suddenly interrupted. "I know what he put you up to. He's louder than he thinks he is." With that, he lunged.

Demetra closed her eyes and the breath left her lungs. All was dark... and all was silent.


	17. The Dreamer, Slumbering

**Chapter Sixteen**

**The Dreamer, Slumbering**

It was nothing like a fairy tale. She'd heard it all before of course, how romantic a life of piracy must be, tales of swashbuckling rebels without a cause, roaming the world in search of freedom on the seas, how they'd stumble upon a mysterious girl or something equally stupid and fall in love- really. Who wrote these kinds of things?

Demetra lay bruised and bloodied with her back against the wall, scrapping her nails against the wood to staunch some of the pain that was currently consuming her body. It didn't do much to help, really.

Killer had already left roughly an hour ago, tired of having played around with an ineffectual opponent.

"_You, are an investment. We don't know where you come from or why you're bound to our ship. But you have a power with potential- our enemies can't defend from what can erase itself from existence on a whim."_

Her fingers found a knot in the wall, and dug in. Her other hand felt against the wood, and slipped back to the floor, leaving a trail of blood in their wake. Instead of crying out, she bit down, gritted her teeth, and tried again.

Goddamnit, why was there a giant red bonfire in her face. Demetra blinked, and the harsh red blur only got blurrier. Was it smirking at her? Choosing to ignore whatever it was, she pawed against the wall again and found a sturdy grip this time. With a great moan of anger and pain, she managed to force her legs into a crouch, and slowly eased herself up the wall. She was probably leaving a giant sweaty, bloody print against the wall but she didn't think a bunch of pirates would really give a damn about it. Maybe they'd come around and point and laugh later.

"…."

Great. Now the bonfire could speak. Demetra snarled something equally incomprehensible in return and pushed off the wall and shoved past whatever it was roughly. Her vision was hazy and red, but she wasn't exactly feeling angry either. In fact, she wasn't sure how she felt, except maybe tired, humiliated, and rather brutalized. And a great deal of numbness.

Really, if only she'd kept her big fat mouth shut that day and let that masked bastard die- what was that annoying tingling sensation on her arm? Some pale sort of branch was whipping through her right wrist. Demetra narrowed her eyes, and still, her vision failed her. If it wasn't anything, then she wasn't going to bother. Turning back around, she stumbled unevenly out the door in a deathly stupor.

* * *

The newest member of the crew was most certainly the biggest riot Kidd had ever seen since… well, perhaps Sabaody and the farce of a slave auction, followed up by the Dark King's appearance. He'd stood in front of her watching her pathetic motions as she tried to stand up, and then when she'd succeeded, he'd made some sort of smart-ass remark about her zombie-like state, only to receive a completely void stare. She'd glared around for several seconds with her dead eyes, before pushing from the wall and roughly barreling past him, splattering blood all over his recently washed pants.

"Oi, bitch-" He snatched at her hand angrily, ready to introduce her to a second training session, only to brush through air. "Wha-" Kidd tried again, this time, grabbing for her shoulder. No success. As she was about to trip through the door, he made one last attempt and drew on his Devil Fruit power. She was wearing several visible metal studs on her clothing, at the very least they would have responded to his call, but they remained still, utterly unaffected.

Kidd stood in the now vacant room, and slowly, his scowl was replaced by a strange grin.

* * *

One week later, and the closest she now came to dying was due to being 'bored to death'.

"We don't keep weaklings on the ship for long, Dolly."

Demetra had long since gotten used to the feeling of pain. She'd once had this ability during her roaming days, but after she'd left, her body had readjusted to a 'comfortable' life. "With all due respect, Captain, _shut up._" Five nails dashed through her cheek. None of them hit.

She wasn't really sure what'd happened to her this past week. What sort of state was her 'real' body in anyways?

It'd been 7 days since she'd fallen into Saber's arms, and instead, returned to the world of her dreams instead. Since then, she hadn't returned to reality once. A fist appeared in her face… and promptly passed through her head.

Killer's scythe passed through her throat. As far as the rest of the crew knew, the captain and their first mate were simply having a private sparring session in the training room. In reality, they were simply toying around with her, testing the extent of her patience and control. Demetra remained impassive. If she had any care in the world left to give, well… it would have been a bloody mess since her intangibility relied on her current state of 'numbness'.

"What's the point of this now?" She sighed, strolling to the opposite end of the room and planting herself against the wall, next to some benches. Several daggers soared through the air guided by a magnetic field, each imbedding themselves through her heart, head, throat, and lung and landing with solid thunks in the wall. She scooted aside nonchalantly, the daggers remaining in the wall without a single trace of blood on them.

"A test." Killer supplied, before disappearing in a blur.

After only seven days, she really didn't have much fighting experience either, so she wasn't terribly surprised to note that she still couldn't trace his movements at all. He was like a ghost practically, moving at such speeds she could only see a slight gray-yellow blur here and there against the wall aaaand… there was his scythe slammed right through her head.

"Why is it always the head." She sighed, tilting said appendage to the side and 'ghosting' away from it completely unharmed.

Recently she'd been feeling dreadfully exhausted. Maybe it was because she suddenly couldn't seem to turn these powers off. It wasn't like she wanted to feel numb and tired this whole time. Although the added benefits of suddenly gaining a snarkier and increasingly pessimistic personality that didn't have to worry about physical retaliation seemed nice…

"Quick and easy kill." Killer intoned again. "But… I believe this is enough. Kidd?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure." Kidd had been in the middle of forming a cluster of pointy objects- with all the pointy ends facing her, of course, and with the drop of his hand, they call clattered noisily to the floor. "Bah, you're really no fun anymore, Dolly."

Demetra only sighed. There just wasn't enough… spice anymore. And if having two very deadly and infamous pirates constantly using you as a punching bag they couldn't hit anyways wasn't 'spicy', she wasn't sure what was anymore. What had happened to the days where she'd simply tagged behind as an intangible specter? Happier days, she noted, nostalgically.

Being acknowledged wasn't fun anymore. Her eyes drooped. Everything was blurry…

"Oi- Traumer… are you falling asleep on us?" In a flash, Kidd sent a cutlass through her ribs. As she expected, it only slipped through her, just like her consciousness.

* * *

When she next awoke, she opened her eyes to the darkness of the training room. Groggily, she sat up and blinked the sleep from her eyes. Her fingers fumbled along for a light switch, but she found none. Grumbling, she focused instead, and slipped through the wall and into the blindingly bright hallway. The stairways wasn't too far away, so she made her way up to the deck.

Just how long had she been out, anyways? Hadn't they just been following that ridiculously fancy compass? Branch pose or some other wood related name. Log. Log Pose. Irrelevant. The navigator had said it would be weeks until the next island. And yet here they were, docked on some island. And the captain was slowly parading his way down the beach with several crucified pirates who were still wailing on about a paradise.

Demetra paused. Maybe she should start taking her situation a little more seriously. Since the day she'd jumped from the roof, she hadn't awoken once in her world. Having powers like intangibility was nice and all, but being bound to a crew like this…

"What did they do?" She asked the presence that had suddenly and silently dropped down beside her.

"Pissed off the captain with their existence." Killer replied.

"Ah." The usual. Somehow it wasn't surprising. She stared unheeding of the assassin beside her. "That looks fairly painful."

Killer grunted noncommittally. "You're missing a hand."

Demetra started. "I'm what?" She glanced down. "…It's not like you to make jokes, Killer."

"You're missing a hand. Your arm is also… transparent" He repeated, leaning against the rail as he joined her in looking on the captain's antics.

"They're both here." She said, and for the first time in weeks, a slight feeling of puzzlement settled in her gut. She both feared and embraced the sudden sensation. Emotion meant death. "…See?" Demetra brought both hands up to her face.

Killer made no further movement. After a period of silence, he shook his head. "Nevermind. Traumer- when was the last time you returned to your world?"

"…Eight days?" She hazarded a guess. He snorted.

"You've been unconscious in the training room for 3 weeks. Kidd thought you were dead." Killer's deadpan tone betrayed no emotion. "You haven't returned to your world in a month."

She shrugged. Why did she feel so unconcerned? It was her life… but then again, life was so exhausting now. And it wasn't like the situation back there was favorable in the least bit… her parents probably thought her a murder and an alcoholic now, and probably had someone investigating now, and if they'd read her diary, her next destination, upon getting back, would certainly be straight to either jail or an asylum. Hopefully Saber had managed to get them both away…

Or maybe she'd already been captured and was simply hooked on some machine in a coma, or being siphoned drugs to keep her asleep and comatose while they investigated the evidence?

The masked man continued coldly. "Don't misinterpret my intentions. I train in there on a daily basis, and you never disappeared from that bench. Your sudden shift in behavior is also entirely too abrupt. I didn't ask to induct you into this crew so that you would become a liability."

"If it was to pay off a debt, you shouldn't have bothered." Demetra muttered, then winced as Kidd began the bloody process of drawing and quartering his hostages. The captain went first, followed quickly by the first mate, a much thinner man.

Killer was quiet again, thinking silently to himself. After half of the hostage crew had been dismembered in various ways, he finally spoke again. "Traumer. Tell me about yourself."

The shock of emotion that hurtled through her was almost like an electric shock. It seemed so long since she'd felt this kind of strange, puzzled emotion. It must have shown on her face, because Killer shook his head again. But why? Why did she feel something from Killer's innocent question (perhaps not so innocent), and nothing but the slightest twinge as Kidd's show continued.

"Just answer the question, Traumer. From the first possible memory." Killer was staring intently at her through his mask, she could tell. It was just a feeling, but when it came to the masked man, it was better to follow along.

She thought about it seriously, and memories flooded her mind. She could see them, flashing by, image by image. Her father. Her mother. A wailing bundle that was her new baby brother. The hospital, wires, beeping, a tiny hand in the blanket- how old had she been when Kyle was born? It seemed like such a world away… heh. World away. Her father's hand on her shoulder as her mother slowly accepted the baby from the nurse.

Unseen to the world, Killer's eyes widened, before returning to their usual uninterested look. Traumer was…

Demetra gasped, and jerked once. Saber's face flooded her vision, and his hand was on her shoulder, shaking frantically. She only had a second to wonder… had Killer… come to realize something? And then she was being embraced in strong, safe arms.

* * *

The beach was a macabre artwork of red and various body parts, slowly being carried away by the tide. Further out, beyond the shores, Killer could see the water thrashing wildly, and knew that the sharks would feast plenty well tonight. Kidd was lost to his insanity, howling madly with his head thrown back, eyes dilated as he reveled in the bloodshed.

His name was not his truest nature. Of course he'd kill, he was a pirate and even the most lighthearted jolly crews would cause property damage or some sort of incident, and even without pulling a trigger or raising a sword, people could die, crushed under wreckage or caught in some marine-pirate confrontational crossfire. Did that make the pirates innocent of murder? Of course not. No one who had this sort of life was innocent.

A straw hat flickered into mind, but Killer brushed it aside. No one.

Still, he could never understand why Kidd enjoyed such messy kills. Clean and precise, that was his style. His nature. Analytical and cool-headedness had gotten him far in the world, and Kidd's brashness and unpredictable personality had been an excellent wave to ride, carrying him the rest of the way. Like pushing and pulling, their natures complimented each other so that he would be propelled forth in situations he wouldn't have normally landed in, and Kidd would be harshly yanked back if he stepped too far.

This essential balance had gotten their crew's name known far and wide, even New World denizens had caught the whispers of a man with fiery hair.

When he was but a child, it was the same. Although in that brief period where Kidd still somewhat barely respected an adult's word, they were more often than not caught by an angry parent- and of course, Kidd would take the blame. Poor impressionable Killer, they always said. Such a sweet and quiet boy, what's he always doing hanging out with that brute Kidd?

Certainly, they would never find out the truth. They had their success stories after all, and they only happened when he took an active role in their plotting. They'd only learned what he was capable of as they watched him, and the man who would become his captain stroll down the main road in town, covered head to toe in blood, the glint of bloodlust equally as apparent in his eyes.

But no matter what- it was always Kidd. It was Kidd the adults beat. It was Kidd who eventually murdered his first man, and then continued beyond to raze the small engineering town to the ground using their own inventions fueled by his newfound powers. And it was Kidd, who began it all- a dream of becoming the Pirate King.

Somehow, the breeze had become even more chilly.

Traumer, perhaps, understood. Kidd was certainly right- the girl had a past, a not so entirely innocent one, and maybe she was the same as him. Or so his instincts said. And they were so rarely wrong- so this warranted his interest, and a further investigation. He'd been uncertain at first, but the pieces were slowly coming together- all that was left was to push the girl a little further, and see if her true nature could be revealed. Demetra Traumer's situation, the power that had brought her here in her dreams and the matter of her existence as well as her recent bouts of exhaustion…perhaps that crazy old beggar from his hometown really did understand something other humans could not see…?

And so, over the roar of his captain's triumph, the sigh of the sea, and the crew's merry cackling, Killer's mind drifted- to a tale from long, long ago…

* * *

Uhm. Wow. So, like I said last chapter... or iono, two chapters ago, I really am surprised this story is so well liked. Even though I haven't been a very good writer to you all, thank you for all the reviews and comments, they were really encouraging.

I am working now, but... well, we'll see if I can do a bit of something every night.

Cheers,

Kagetaka


	18. Interlude: Of a Will and Dreams

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Interlude: Of a Will and Dreams**

_Sixteen Years Ago…_

"The one about _that_ time. You said you'd continue from last week. Tell me about it."

"Ha! You mean the one you always ask for? You know the drill, brat."

Killer sighed, but raised a fisted hand over the man's grimy, emaciated hand, and opened it. Several coins tumbled out and into the older man's awaiting hand. Immediately they disappeared beneath his fingers, protectively shielding his new bounty. Quickly, the man turned away from Killer, back facing toward the young boy as he counted the money.

Such an unwise move, Killer thought, turning your back on someone you were doing business with. The hidden blade in his sleeve remained in its sheath, however. No- old man Zeke had far too much for him to eliminate without guilt.

Yes, even though those stupid adults would always coo and smile when they saw him going by, this filthy old beggar had seen through him instantly- and had even known how to draw him closer.

Perhaps it wasn't so foolish after all. Clearly this beggar understood him and his motivations quite well by only a simple glance on some fated day, and now, Killer found himself returning again and again, with the exact change, and a little more. Kidd had been complaining and creating an uproar around their usual meeting place because of his absence, but Killer found himself, for once, not caring, nor craving the older boy's approval. No, something else much greater had caught his interest, and if he played his cards well, he'd be another step closer to greatness. _And out of Kidd's shadow_.

"Good, good. Excellent to do business with you, m'boy."

Killer scowled, the look completely out of place on his angelic features. He was quite aware, and not above using a pretty, feminine face to get what he wanted or to land him out of trouble, but there were also the wrong sort of adults he wasn't quite ready to stand up to, that he wasn't willing to begin giving the wrong impressions to either.

"Don't call me that. Now give me what I paid for." He snapped- and the next thing he knew, he was under the old beggar's boot while the man laughed audaciously- even having the gall to take a moment and slug down half a bottle of beer. His struggles were ineffectual, so Killer quieted and stilled obediently, even as his mind screamed protests.

"You're a thousand years too young to be challenging me, brat." Zeke laughed, shattering the glass against the floor as he finished the rest. Killer quickly turned his head as shards of glass bounced harmlessly off his rather bushy and thick hair. "Alright, alright. You get what you paid for, I suppose. Pull up a crate- I'll tell you the rest today."

What it was, that had the young boy enthralled to the point of even ignoring his friend, idol, and leader, was knowledge. More specifically, lost knowledge.

It was already hard enough to come by anything that spoke of the knowledge he sought. In fact, most of it was banned by the World Government, but once in a while, he would catch a whisper that some illegal traders had come to town, and on those days, he'd eagerly pack his meager, sometimes ill-gotten savings and a couple of weapons, and some stuff to trade, and head off to meet them.

"_History books? What a weird kid you are. Yeah, sure. We got them. Nicked them from some stack of books I think they were planning on burning or something. Dunno why, some of these look pretty damn old. Worth a pretty penny, I'd say."_

Of course, he rarely had sufficient funds to actually purchase the illegal books- so he did what any smart, self-serving child would do, and stole them when the merchants weren't looking. He never got caught, since who would want to admit to the authorities that they were selling illegal books they'd stolen from the government?

A loud snore shattered Killer's deep thought, and he immediately snapped back to attention. The old beggar had keeled over on his barrel, dead asleep. With a snarl and a foul curse on his lips, Killer stood from his crate and kicked at the barrel. "Wake up, old man!"

In a flash, Zeke was on his feet looking around frantically as the remnants of the shattered barrel flew everywhere. "Who, what, wha? Oh. It's just you, little girl."

"I'm a BOY!" Killer snapped indignantly, only to receive a pat on the head.

"There, there. I'm sure they have surgical means for that kind of thing, if you really want to be a boy…"

"One more word …" Killer warned, his patience at a rather all time low. It was infuriating, dealing with this man, but in the end, his instinct told him it would be completely worth it.

A breath of foul rot hit his face and Killer's eyes bugged in rage. Screw his instinct, maybe this was the 1/99 chance it was totally wrong. Was the old fart actually yawning in his face? Before he could flip out his hidden knife and jump on the stupid old man with a warcry, he found himself yet again eating dirt while the old man had gained a new, comfy, if not fairly low, seat.

"Get the hell off me you crazy old man!"

"You want a story and I want to be comfortable. We can both be happy this way." Zeke replied smartly. Killer would have pulled his hair out in frustration if he could even feel his hands.

They must have look absolutely ridiculous- the 'raving' old beggar of 3rd Street sitting on a young boy- but the man continued, unperturbed.

"The Void Century…" The old man began, and whatever frustrations or complaints Killer had melted from his mind. Zeke was lighter than he looked, anyways, and if he convinced himself enough, maybe he could look at this as some sort of training. "First- a little backstory. Shall we begin, m'boy?"

_It was a tale known by everyone, far and wide across the world. Whether or not everyone believes it… well, that's sumthin that don't matter. The way we have it now is that the World Government rules this half of the world, and the other half is another battleground in progress._

The New World, Killer's mind instantly supplied. The final destination for all pirate crews seeking the legendary treasure- One Piece.

* * *

_As long as we have them in places of control- they'll do their utter damn best to keep the story under wraps. Only a handful of us from the era Rodger himself hailed from heard whispers of the tale. _

_We all know the story of the twenty kings who conquered this part of the world as we know it- and 'specially their descendants, the Tenryubito. They say the kings united in their force, and utterly crushed the Ancient Kingdom- thus, they became the World Government. Now- let's focus on the kings themselves._

_The first 18 who joined and formed the alliance were nothing special. They were true brutes and tyrants who forcibly enlisted their citizens into the war. And lastly, one by one, the final two decided that it was in their best interest to join and donate to the cause as well._

_King Ethartus was an heirless man. Years and years of trying with countless women, he'd finally been told by his doctors that it was impossible. And because of the lack of an heir, his bloodline, the bloodline to which affirmed his kingdom's right to exist alongside the other nineteen, would die with him. The only kingdom his held close ties to was the Ieksen Kingdom- ruled by King Ieksen II. The only other kingdom that had yet to join the alliance. Upon his death, his Ethartus Kingdom would be dissolved, the people and land free for the taking. And he knew of the despair that would descend across his lands when the other kingdoms came to tear at their kingdom's corpse. _

_Prepared to watch his kingdom and the birthright given to himself and his people as one of the Twenty Kingdoms disappear, he decided that perhaps the other kingdoms would agree to integrate his people into their cultures more willingly if he joined the war._

_On the night before he was to officiate the contract with the alliance- he dreamed._

_He saw his lands, prospering, happy. The people cheered as he past by- and no longer did the shadow of death flicker in their eyes or faces. They were free of burden- but why? With his inability to produce an heir- it was inevitable that their lands would be taken away by the most vicious kingdom, and the people would be made slaves. So why were they so pleased to see him, their failure ruler?_

"_My lord- congratulations. I heard all about the good news!" The baker's wife, a woman who had often bustled up to the castle with baskets full of his favorite rolls as a child approached him, the happiest smile he'd seen on her in ages. _

"_The… news?" It was very un-kingly to act confused, but there was nothing left but to ask. Better to profess ignorance than fall into a trap, after all._

"_The queen! I was told you finally found a suitable woman- and that she is bearing your child!" _

_Now that he thought about it a bit- but before he could think too deeply into it, a slender hand rested against his shoulder._

"_My lord?" He found himself staring into the most lovely woman's eyes. Dark ebony hair, past curvy wide hips. The coronation crown rested upon her head. This… was his queen? _

_The woman took both of his hands into hers, took a deep breath, and stared into his eyes. "My lord, it is time, for this dream to awaken."_

"_Awaken." The baker's wife nodded._

"_Awaken." His queen repeated._

"_Awaken!" _

_He wrenched his hands from the strange woman, and stumbled back, whirling round wildly as the townspeople began to form a circle around him, chanting the same word, over and over again. Their hands grabbed at his robe- then fell through them as if they weren't there to begin with. The queen reached for his hands again, and they too, fell through like nothing. Ethartus screamed._

* * *

"So the king had a dream." Killer stated, bored. "So what. What's that got to do with the Lost Century?"

He earned a smack across the head for his cheek. Never had Killer been so grateful for his hair volume.

"Everything, brat, so listen closely or you can pay me more to listen some other day." Zeke scratched his head absentmindedly. "Now where was I… oh, yes. The issue of our history."

"That dream- was the final entry in the king's writings. Some say he died valiantly in battle, slaughtered by the so-called savages of the Ancient Civilization. Others say he died an obscure old man, forgotten by his disgusted subjects who posthumously declared him the Failure King. But the fact of the matter is- everyone had mixed tales to tell of their king after the last dated entry in his journal- and no any two people's tales were consistent. Even what happened to the kingdom afterwards is an inconsistent tale- some say it was torn apart viciously by neighboring kingdoms, other say it was peacefully integrated, and some say that it persisted as the 18th kingdom and prospered on despite the loss of their legitimacy. A truly confusing time indeed."

"The only consistent part of each person's tale- was a bright glow and a flash of light from the direction of the castle. To this day, nobody knows what happened. All they ever found, at the end of the war, was his journal. His final words in the journal were: 'I wish for my people to live, prosper, triumph, and so I wish for the victory of our Alliance of Twenty.'"

"Great. Great and all. Still nothing about what I really wanted to hear about, you cheating old man!"

"Pipe down, brat!" Another smack across his head. Killer had finally had enough.

"I'm going to kill you! Instinct be damned!" The boy roared, and shoved down with all his strength to buck the old man off of him.

Alas, it didn't happen, and Killer remained completely immobile under Zeke. How the hell had the old beggar manage to displace what little weight he had so well? Whenever he tried to lift an arm or brace a leg, a rather bony body part would always be there, digging painfully into sensitive points. Killer hissed angrily, but the old man didn't move.

Nor did he say anything else.

Killer blinked- and then another loud snore shattered the quiet road.

The sound of snore was quickly lost in a roar of frustration as Killer thrashed and struggled ineffectually.

…It had been hours and he'd been cold and hungry, when Kidd finally, out of sheer coincidence, had come strolling down the road howling his head off with laughter when he noticed Killer's plight.

"That's what you get for ignoring me and going off to visit some stupid old man!" He'd crowed.

Much to his satisfaction, Kidd hadn't been able to land any blows on the old man either when Zeke had awoke, annoyed at the disturbance to his peaceful sleep, and proceeded to beat the shit from the red haired kid before drop kicking Kidd ungracefully to the floor and shoo-ing Killer off, mumbling something about old bones and troublemakers. Sometimes, being the usually unseen one had its perks after all.

* * *

_Present Day_

A faint chuckle escaped Killer as he leaned over the railing of the ship, right over the giant's skull that decorated the ship's prow.

Perhaps, that day, he'd gleaned a secret even greater than that of the Void Century. The secret of how a technologically advanced civilization had been wiped out in a matter of hours by a force significantly larger- yet much more primitive. It was only a small springboard, and he'd barely gotten any more information out of Zeke before the old man had been spirited away by the government for blasphemy, at least, that was the official story. Killer hadn't believed a word of it. There was no way that crafty old beggar would have let himself get caught so easily.

There was something significantly larger going on than just a crew of pirates and a strange girl who appeared on their ship every now and then. Although, with nothing concrete yet, he could only wait and bide his time.

Patience was, perhaps the greatest gift he'd mastered over the years. He nodded his head sagely to himself as a dismembered head sailed pass his head, smacking a relatively new crewmember in the chest. Said new crewmember stared stunned for a split second at the oozing head and the new bloodstain on his shirt, before falling over in a dead faint.


	19. The Dreamer and the Farewell

**Chapter Eighteen**

**The Dreamer and the Farewell**

Saber was quiet, his eyes distant as he looked towards the sky. It was a clear, beautiful day, but Demetra couldn't really enjoy it. They were currently huddled inside an underground bunker, surrounded by steel mesh gates. The air was stale and dry, but still cool, compared to the blistering heat outside. It was a fairly modest place, and from the shovels stacked nearby, Demetra figured Saber probably dug out the place himself. Shelves lined the walls, filled with snacks, freeze-dried foods, and water. A small generator hummed in the corner, and a flickering lightbulb illuminated the rest of the room. Saber hadn't closed the hatch, and so a bright beam of sunlight spilt across the floor.

"Explain. What's going on with you?" Saber asked, quietly, but not harshly. "You- everyone saw you disappear. You landed in my arms for a second and suddenly you weren't there anymore. All that was left in my hands was… some sort of… blue apple. With funny patterns on it."

Now _that_ was a development she'd not been expecting. After all, somehow he'd gotten her away, but in the form of…"…An apple? ….Blue?" Demetra asked, puzzled. "What sort of patterns?"

"…Swirly patterns- kind of like cartoon waves. But the funny thing was- it looked like someone or something already took a bite out of it. I thought I could figure out where you went or something and that it might contain some sort of clue so I took off like the devil was on my heels." Saber laughed, despite the strange atmosphere. "And then just as I get back to my place after making sure I wasn't being tailed, the fruit just- _glowed_, and there you were again."

Demetra thought quickly. Somehow she was taking the form of a_ chewed-up_ _fruit_ when she visited her dreams? She wasn't simply unconscious? "Wait- but you woke me up that one time when I was unconscious in the junkyard!"

"Yeah- actually, I saw some flash of light from where you were- and assumed something funny was up on my turf, so I checked it out, and there you were, stirring. So it was probably you, turning back."

Was that why Kyle had believed she'd returned to her old life, because he couldn't find her in bed at night? Things were getting stranger and stranger… "I already tried telling Kyle once- about what's been happening to me at night when I sleep."

"Sleep? …Is this where that totally weird question about the dream argument came from?"

"Yeah, precisely." She nodded. "Look- you already have proof that what I'm going to tell you isn't a lie or some weird delusion of mine. I turned into a fruit in your hands, if that's not proof, then I don't know what is. So, just lend me an ear, okay?"

Still, he looked uncertain, or perhaps just plain puzzled. Eventually, Saber nodded, with a curious expression on his face. "All right. Go on."

"I… I think I've been falling into a different world every time I fall asleep." She was treated to an extremely deadpan look- although not completely unbelieving yet. The shock hadn't quite worn out from Saber's eyes though.

"It's… it's a very strange world." Demetra started, watching Saber's expression warily for any skepticism or disbelief. "Anyways, in that world, they have pirates. Lots of them. I don't know why, I think they said it was something about a Golden Age for pirates, and that there's some great treasure out there everyone's searching for. And every time I fall asleep here- I wake up there, on a pirate ship."

"The same pirate ship every time?" At least he was taking it seriously, Demetra could tell.

She nodded. "Yeah, the same. At first, when my dreams started, I was like a bystander. I didn't really exist in their world. I was just there, watching, but no one could see, feel, or hear me. And then eventually, the longer I stayed there, and the more I started interacting with that world like it was real and not just a dream, the more 'real' I got. Now, I have two people who can see, hear, and touch me.

A thoughtful expression crossed his face. The mood was somber again, but Saber paid it no heed. "So no one else can?"

It already felt like decades since she'd reveled in the fact that people were beginning to acknowledge pieces of her existence. A little sound here, a touch here, a brief sighting… "Actually some people can… sense me in a way. Some people can only see me but can't hear or touch me. Others can touch me, but can't see or hear me. And then there are people who can hear me and can't touch or see me. But look- the problem isn't what goes on in that world, it's that… time moves differently here and there- and it fluctuates too. Sometimes I'm there for one night in this world, and I'm only there for an hour in the dream. And then sometimes I'm there for… oh, say 3 weeks, and then I've only been out for… how long did it take you to get me here?" She treated her former leader to a pointed stare.

"Woah- wait. In the time it took me to get you as a fruit over here, _3 weeks_ passed in your dream world?"

"And that's not all." Wearily, she sat down, and toppled over on the dirt. "Ahh… I use energy in my sleep too. I wake up even more exhausted than ever."

Snorting, he joined her on the ground, sending dust flying everywhere. Demetra coughed and spluttered, then glared at Saber, who held up his hands in mock surrender. "I dunno about you- but I wouldn't really call _turning into a chewed up fruit,_ sleeping. Maybe you're not even dreaming."

Now when he put it like that, it really didn't sound like sleeping. But how was she supposed to have known that she turned into a fruit whenever she dreamed? It wasn't like she'd wake up one day- and remain a fruit….

…Right?

Frantically, she shook her head free of troublesome thoughts and Saber treated her to a strange looks for her trouble.

"Sorry- I'd fancy not staying a rotten piece of fruit for the rest of my life. Just thoughts." A sudden rattling of the metal gates caught her attention. "What was that?" Demetra asked, shooting to her feet, sending another dust cloud over Saber, who burst into hacking. "Quiet!"

"Ack- agh…" Saber spat on the dirt, before sitting up himself. "Relax- I just called a couple of old friends over. Your parents and brother aren't going to find us here. Neither will the police or whoever else they call for. It's my secret base, you could say."

Demetra stared at him incomprehensibly, until a loud, boisterous, and very feminine voice split the silence.

"Saber! You gonna tell us what happened that day now?"

Demetra ducked and lunged out of the way when a blur came falling down the hole, landing in a crouching position. Sylvia took the opportunity to plop on the dirt next to Saber. Behind her, slowly making his way down the rope ladder, staring sheepishly and apologetically at them, was James.

Saber looked thoughtfully towards Demetra, and sighed wistfully. "What about the others? If this is gonna be told, may as well get everyone else here."

"There's no one else." James' steady voice cracked at the end. "Markell joined up with the Hots- he was killed 7 months back in some freak ambush. Iris's parents passed away and she moved in with her grandparents across the country. Ari's also in another country- he's studying medicine right now. Torch and his little brother Ferrel are in jail- they caught the two stashing explosives and shit, as well as plans to blow up a school or something. And the twins, Kendyr and Coryn are working someplace now, dunno where or what, but I know it's honest."

"And you guys?"

Sylvia, James, and Demetra looked at one another. Demetra shrugged. "Summer's on, I'm just waiting for school to get in, I guess…"

"Working at my grandma's bakery." Sylvia stated shortly.

James looked around and sighed, eyes to the floor. "I went with Markell. With the Hots. On that note, stay inside tonight. Fire spreads quickly."

"Is that metaphorical or code? You know you could get knifed in the back for using it with outsiders." Their former leader snorted. "But, that's a relatively new group, isn't it." Saber sighed, not meeting any of their eyes. "Looks like everything didn't go as well as I hoped."

"You tried to save ten people- you couldn't have believed all of us would heed your words and go on to become better people?" Sylvia rolled her eyes, picking at her nails. "Besides. No one's the same. You've got kinda half success stories and half… well… no offense, James."

He shot her a dry expression. "None taken, I know what I'm doing is pretty stupid. But… it's just not in some people to stop. And I'm one of them." Kicking off his shoes, he sighed. "S'just… I don't study well, don't have enough to get a job, parents always nagging… a guy's just gotta get away from it all." As if to prove his words, he slung down his beat up old backpack and fished around in it. "Drink, anyone?" James asked, holding up a can of beer.

"No thanks." Demetra quickly blurted. The last thing she needed was to get raging drunk, pass out, and turn into a fruit in front of everyone.

Saber was quiet at this as well. "Well… I can't really say anything, I'm just barely scrapping along being a mechanic's assistant in the garage downtown. Otherwise I'm also pretty damn active still on the streets- just a loner wandering these lawless places." He finished poetically. He pointedly ignored Sylvia's excited whoop as she caught the can James lobbed at her.

Demetra clenched her fists. "So that day happened for nothing? Now you see- you didn't save us, you didn't finish saving us either! You ran away!"

"Shut it!" Sylvia snapped back, can halfway to her lips. "We haven't heard the reason why you left yet either, you know?"

Immediately, Saber was between them, holding Sylvia's eyes for a second or two. "Calm down. Deme's right. I did run away. And I let her take the blame for it."

Hurt and betrayal shone in Sylvia's eyes as she backed down, shaking her head. "…So it really was the truth. What else have you lied to us about, eh?"

Inwardly, Demetra was glad Sylvia was now more or less on her side, since the other girl's wrath was often hard to contain and easy to trigger. But she couldn't help but feel a little guilt. Saber had just pulled her out of the stickiest situation she'd been in since… well, back then.

The four fell into melancholic silence. Demetra closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. Dead, jailed, headed toward a destructive end. The sad reality that almost half of their group would not be making it back was a harsh tale to swallow.

Markell's biting but concerned attitude, always looking after Sylvia, Coryn, and herself. Torch, with his wonderful lighter tricks as he showed them the beauty and destructiveness of fire all in one whenever they all had time to kick back. Ferrel, the youngest of the group, and yet, the most brilliant, always toying with various science kits in his free time.

Markell's family was a broken one, and Demetra knew he was on rocky terms with both of his parents, until the day he eventually ran away and Saber had taken him in. Torch and Ferrel's mother was dead and their father, unemployed, bitter, and resentful. Torch had always been so busy trying to haul so many odd jobs at once, he'd never noticed Ferrel being mercilessly bullied at school. Ferrel, being Ferrel, bore it all without complaint, but underneath his understanding and quiet nature, Demetra had seen the hatred growing for his tormentors.

* * *

_An angry outburst from Iris, Sylvia and Coryn, while Demetra remained silent, but her true feelings smoldered in her dark eyes._

"_Look- it's not like I think you guys need any extra protection or anything, it's just this world's fucked up. Rightfully? I think you four girls should be able to walk the streets just like the rest of us at any time of the day. But that ain't how life is working right now." Markell scowled, running his hand through sandy blonde hair. "Those crazy bastards out there- they're looking for easy prey, and whether you like it or not, you guys are it. Stay safe out there, okay? There are those out there addicted to the pains and pleasures of life. Steer clear of them."_

_A tall bulky boy with his head shaved stood with his back to her. His right arm was covered in black, fiery tattoos. TORCH was scrawled across his other arm. _

"… _Hey, Deme. Watch the brat for me, will you? Sometimes, I think… he might try to take on too many things at once. It's hard for us, but I do what I can, and he understands that. I can't be more prouder of Ferrel than I am, but he needs to know he's still got people who care. Laters, Deme." Torch turned around with a wry, sad grin on his crooked lips. A gas canister rested in one hand- and a lighter in his other. Soon, the smell of smoke rose above the city._

_A smaller, lankier boy with messy dark hair stared at her through heavy, deep eyes. Almost as dark as hers. "I hate them, Deme. I hate them all, so, so much."_

"_I want them all to die." And then Ferrel smiled, but Demetra could feel the cold sensation of fear trickling down her spine._

_The next day, Ferrel was back to his normal, studious self. "Bye, Demetra!" He said with a small smile, as she left for home one day. But Demetra was not fooled._

* * *

"Wha- what's… w-what's g-going on with Demetra!"

Sylvia's shocked scream pierced her thoughts and punched Demetra back into reality, only to find her friends, with their faces illuminated in fear. She looked down at herself, and realized that her entire body was glowing and flickering wildly like a dying light bulb. Saber lunged for her, only to be held back by a hysterical and shock-ridden Sylvia. James had leapt to his feet and was bellowing something to her, but Demetra could no longer hear him.

* * *

_A slim, tanned boy slowly adjusted the glasses he was sporting. In one hand, was a thick volume, in the other, a notepad and pen. "Oh- oh! It's just you Demetra. For a moment, I was worried."_

_Demetra cocked her head curiously. "Ari? What's wrong?"_

"_No- it's nothing." He looked off to the side, grimacing. "I… I was just thinking to myself."_

"_About?" She pressed._

"…_well, saying good bye. To the gang. I- I did it, Demetra. I got into the college my parents wanted me to get. I… I didn't think I'd be accepted, so I thought, I'd rather have freedom from them. But… but I really did it. I… I don't have to be a failure anymore."_

"_Oh Ari… you were never a falure…"_

"_All ready?" Coryn's intense green eyes stared into her own. She was a scrawny thing with a round face framed in red hair. However, her movements betrayed her nature as an agile and quick person. "We've got a deal down at Rick's. But we're also expecting it won't go too smoothly, so be prepared."_

"_I'm on it. Everything's packed." Demetra automatically responded. _

"_Good. And… stay safe. I'd hate to say good bye tonight."_

"_Being a melodramatic ass again, Cor?" Kendyr plopped down next to them, snatched a butterfly knife from his sister's pocket, and unlatched it with a flourish. "Ew- dirty. You didn't clean it off?"_

"_What's the point. It's just gonna dirty again." _

"…_Whatever, look- point is, you gotta give these things some care. Where's the beauty in this? You can't send people off with such an unsightly thing. Here." He rubbed the knife's blade vigorously on his shirt and pushed it back into her waiting hands. "…Hm. Good enough. Well, I told Saber I'd be back quickly. Got my own job to do now. See you!"_

"_Do you know what Saber tries to do?" Under the streetlight, James sucked in a breath and let out of puff of smoke. "That guy's really something. It's loyalty, Deme. He's trying to help us. Your antipathy with life. My addictions. Coryn and Kendyr's boredom. Sylvia's attitude. Torch's burdens, Ferrel's depression, Ari's parents and schoolwork, Iris' situation, and Markell's anger. He's trying to fix it all." He looked away, snorting in disgust. "I don't think he can do anything about it though. Moron. But… you can't help but admire the guy for trying. But it ain't gonna last forever. One day, we're all gonna say good bye and blow this joint."_

"…_I have four more months, Demetra." A girl was hunched over on her bed with one of her hands clasped tightly around a dagger. Again and again, she plunged it into the pillow._ _Feathers flew everywhere, and Demetra reached out. One landed in her palm. "My parents want to move. To another country."_

"_But- what about-"_

"_SHUT UP! Don't you think I know it already!" The dagger slammed into the pillow one final time and Iris slouched until her forehead was touching the hilt. Demetra could see the hot tears streaming down her face. "I knew it… from the first morning sickness…I… what am I going to do. They don't want me to keep it…I'm not even sure whose it is… but I do know this. If it keeps like this… I'm just gonna run away! Good bye!"_

* * *

The glow was overwhelming now- her friend's cries a garbled mess. Was that the howl of the sea? Demetra breathed- it seemed so salty. Something closed on her wrist- a human hand, but only for a split second, before the sensation disappeared.

* * *

"_What do you think?" Sylvia asked, flicking something glittery in Demetra's direction. Without looking, Demetra snatched it out of the air and held it in front of her face, and her eyes widened. "Not bad, eh?"_

"_W-where did you get this?" Demetra gasped, awed as she held the diamond ring out into the light. _

"_Nicked it, 'course." Sylvia laughed wolfishly. Then she grinned, baring all her teeth. "Gotta find something to do with my time and all. "Too much of it makes hands idle. Ahh~ this makes me want to go out and do something else. Well, I'm off to sell my goods. Bye!"_

_The ring of police sirens caused them both to freeze momentarily, but then Sylvia smirked, and strode off confidently._

"_Hey- Demetra, look. Can we talk?"_

_Immediately her back stiffened. "'Can we talk' is never a good way to start out, Saber." She said conversationally. _

"_Well technically, I started with 'Hey'." He sniped back, and laughed quietly. "But no, really. I… have a favor to ask of you."_

"…_Oh! Well, go on."_

"_Tomorrow… after the job is done… would you…_

…_say good bye?"_

…

…_._

…_._

"_I'd never thought I'd actually say this about you, but, you're such a coward, Saber! I'm not the esteemed leader here that everyone's elected to crowd around. But fine. I quit your group. Is that what you want to hear? Fine! FINE! I quit! I QUIT I QUIT I QUIT!"_

* * *

Something heavy, hard, and painful caught her swiftly in the gut, and Demetra rolled away, moaning to herself. Slowly, she peeled open her eyes, and looked around. Blue. The sky. The ocean.

Kidd looked rather peeved, standing imperiously above her with a dangerous glare. "What was that, dolly?"

"…" So she had returned. But why? She hadn't even been asleep or anywhere near enough to do so. "…What was… what?" Deep breaths. Control. Calm down.

"Nobody-" At this, Kidd suddenly shoved his face into hers, and although he tried to grab for her hair, this time, his hand phased through. Unfazed, he stared harshly into her eyes. "…and I mean _nobody_ quits this crew, unless they leave in a fucking body bag!"

She stared quietly at the fiery captain before her. And then, like so many months ago, when a man she'd respected asked her to take the reins and go, Demetra dipped her head slightly. "Aye, boss." She whispered- and for some strange reason, relief flooded through her veins.

* * *

_It was the clipped march of her footsteps that resonated through the alleyway as she walked away from her friends. None of them made a move to stop her, but she could feel their stunned eyes on her back. When she'd finally gotten out of sight, at last, Demetra shed a tear._

_Now there was no more going back._

"… _bye, Saber. Bye everyone…"_

* * *

"A dream on these seas- sometime's it's all you have to hang on. Or so some people say."

Startled, Demetra peered over her shoulder. It'd been weeks since she'd returned to the other world, and there didn't seem to be any signs of her waking up any time soon. She was currently looking out toward the sea, leaned against the grotesque giant skull that decorated the deck of the Kidd Pirates' ship. With a purposeful stride, the first mate of the crew had wound his way through the bustling crewmembers on the ship. Several of them seemed puzzled- wondering who, exactly, Killer was talking to.

"The upper deck is empty for now, follow me, Traumer." He muttered under his breath as he passed by, then walked on, seemingly unfazed.

Her head turned to follow as he ghosted away into the crowd. How curious.

Again, she had yet to return to her world for the past several weeks. Instead, she spent her days as a lookout, staying firmly out of her fellow unsuspecting crewmates ways while still working to serve the crew. Kidd had doodled a stick-figure version of their world's Marine's symbol and told her to keep an eye out for any ships bearing the design. Although it really hadn't been her fault she hadn't recognized the symbol in time during that previous incident just a few days ago…

After all, what Kidd had drawn looked more like two disfigured bananas on their side mashed together at one end with a double headed wrench forced through at the meeting point.

Really, it was nothing similar… Even Killer had heaved a great sigh when she held up the 'symbol' Kidd had drawn and told her to look out for and shook his head while Kidd finished sinking the enemy ship by causing any metals on board to drive in and out of the wooden hulls multiple times.

With a sigh, Demetra focused her ability just to ensure she didn't accidentally run into anyone, and then phased through the crowd, falling behind Killer with ease. As soon as they were out of earshot, she asked her question. "Did… you want something?"

"Merely a theory I have, that I wish to share." Killer responded, without stopping or facing her. They were far above deck. "Concerning your ability… and, their effects."

"You have an idea… why I'm like this?"

With an impatient huff, Killer threw open the door to the mess and motioned her in, closing the door behind them. "A theory- in fact, an old story that comes from my, and Kidd's hometown. Aside from word of mouth, there isn't much else to support the tale, but in some aspects, it makes sense to me, so I'll explain it."

Demetra raised an eyebrow "But really. You have better things to do than to be diagnosing me. So… I'm guessing this tale is important then. Or will reveal something about my ability that benefits the crew."

Clever. Killer was impressed despite himself, but remained stoic. "Because if this ridiculous and fanciful theory turns out to be true, then… we've as good as completed the journey to finding One Piece."

Demetra stared dumbly at Killer- her apparently temporary brilliance suddenly down the drain. "…One Piece?"

"There are those who say it resides in Raftel, the final island but if this is right, then we won't have to spend any time finding it."

"…What is One Piece?"

Startled, Killer halted in the middle of his monologue and focused on Demetra. "…Kidd didn't explain?" He asked, disbelieving.

Demetra shook her head. "I can hazard a guess that's why this crew's on the seas- some great treasure, but whatever it is…"

"It is that treasure." Killer interjected. "One that began this 'Great Era of Piracy'. How much do you know of, or heard, our world's history?" Internally, he was slightly frustrated to have to put off his theory for a while, especially when the girl shrugged confusedly. "None?"

Thinking back, Demetra's head immediately started hurting. "Ugh… well, if anything, I know the tale of the Twenty Kings and how they created the World Government…"

"The most propaganda and shit-filled tale of the century." The masked man snapped, blowing away her thoughts with a wave of his hand. "I'm speaking of something a little more recent. Only years ago, piracy wasn't this big. It happened when I was just a child, but there was a man named Gol. D Roger. King of the Pirates."

"A king…?"

"A title, given to him by Marine and the government, more like. The most notorious pirate to sail the seas. They say he massacred millions of civilians but that's only the cover story. Word on the seas is, he knew of things the government wanted to hide, and he was powerful, too powerful and entirely too wealthy. So they tried to turn him into a target for other pirates and gave him that title, in hopes some pirate would take his life in an attempt to usurp the position." The execution at Loguetown, the bold text of the newspapers that had been spilled from the sky. Killer remembered. "He was caught and executed, but his final words… 'I left all of it at that place…' many have interpreted his last words differently, and eventually, variations of it spread across the world. I believe the most common one is 'I left it all in one piece'. Hence the name of the great treasure of the Pirate King. And it's a mutual understanding that the person who finds it, inherits the title! That's Kidd's dream. And that's what I'm here to help him do."

"But how?" Sensing Killer's rising irritation, she quickly amended her comment. "I mean- how is it possible that an entire era of piracy was set off by one man's execution and his final words?"

"They say Gol D. Roger was a very charismatic man- capable of even turning enemies into friends. But, you have a point." He allowed. Killer made a quick mental note to continue investigating Gol D. Roger. The World Government and the Marines had to have known how influential the Pirate King had been- why had they not gagged him, given the circumstances? "Now- what about Devil Fruits?"

Demetra gave him a confused stare. "Um. Well, Captain mentioned them when you-" Her mind flashed back to Kizaru, the archipelago, Kidd dragging her toward the chaos none too gently as he interrogated her on her 'power'. "Yeah. He's mentioned them before but didn't really explain what they are." She thought it wise to, perhaps, not bring up that topic again.

"In laymen's terms- they are unique fruits with mystical properties that grant their eater a specific power."

Fruit… "Wait! What do they look like?"

Instead of being displeased at the interruption, Killer cocked his head slowly. "They vary in size, shape, and color, but can almost always be distinguished by a 'swirly' pattern across the fruit's skin." Noting the sudden rush of understanding lighting up her eyes, he asked, "Have you seen one somewhere?"

"I…" This world and her world… as far as she knew; only she was capable of transcending between the two. Deciding there was no harm in telling, she nodded hesitantly. "I was told… by a friend in my world who watched me… transition into this world… that I turned into a fruit in his hands." She muttered the last part lowly, shuffling her feet at the sheer nonsense spilling from her lips. "…As far as I know, these devil fruit things don't exist in my world."

A book on known devil fruits… Killer was sure he probably had one laying around somewhere in his room. "Describe your… fruit form."

"A blue apple with swirls."

The description didn't sound familiar to him, but it wouldn't hurt to take a look. Perhaps hers was still one of the ones yet undocumented?

Demetra started squirming slightly as his nonchalant stare drew on. "Is… that all? Sir? What about the theory?"

"Forget it. You've given me more to think on- I will discuss that later. For now…" He pointed at the sea through a porthole. "Every devil fruit user has a weakness- the inability to swim. But you, have the ability to cancel out your existence while still remaining, in a sense. I wonder…"

"…what happens to devil fruit users in the water?"

"Nothing too terrible." Killer deadpanned. "You won't be able to move a muscle, use your powers, and you'll sink. That's about it." Then, quicker than Demetra could blink, he was already moving, snatching her up, hurling her out of the room and she was suddenly found flying over the edge of the ship and hurtling toward the rich blue sea.

She had one second to snarl out a curse and screech Killer's name before berating herself and throwing away all emotion before she hit the water.

* * *

"You, are an ass." She coughed, throwing a half hearted punch at the first mate's head.

He brushed it to the side. "An anomaly."

"No! I said you're an ass and-"

She'd managed to phase through the water as expected- until a convenient Sea King decided to take a detour nearby and in the spur of the moment, she'd lost her concentration of apathy and suddenly understood what Killer meant by being unable to swim.

Fortunately for her- Killer was apparently not out to kill her, despite all appearances, and when she'd failed to reappear, he'd come in after her.

Still! This situation was entirely his fault!

A quick smack over the head silenced Demetra's spluttering and grumbling. "Quiet. Clearly, you can bypass this weakness if you can concentrate in time, but if not, or your concentration slips, the weakness applies as usual. Fascinating, that the sea doesn't automatically cancel out your inexistence, but that in itself is a train of thought I'd rather not get into."

You had to 'exist' to be affected by the sea but she had a power affected by the sea that could cease her existence… Demetra's brain automatically protested and she gave up, nodding in understanding. "Why are you so interested in… well, my powers… me… anyways?"

"Like I told you." Killer said, giving her one last languid look over before turning away. "You may have the answer to leading us directly to One Piece."

"…I don't get it." Demetra grumbled, returning to squeezing the sea water out of her hair as the first mate drifted off to research god knows what. Who knew a bloodthirsty pirate like him would be so into history? Then again, with an idiot like Kidd as captain, maybe this was Killer's way of self-preservation?

Wincing, Demetra stood up and looked down as a generous amount of water started gathering at her feet. Gods, even being covered in the liquid made her nauseous. Why hadn't she noticed before? Maybe fresh water had less of an effect?

The zombie-like crewmate wandered by- 'Heat' was his name, her brain supplied- and he stopped and stared down at the puddle she'd created, then stalked off, hollering for a grunt to come and mop up the mess while muttering about the New World and its apparent oddities.

* * *

"..."

"History… has always been written by the victor. That rule of thumb has been consistent since the fall of the Ancient Civilization- and the rise of the Twenty Kingdoms."

"That era has always been unclear but… there is new evidence now?"

"Gol D. Roger's final words…it seems like a distant stretch, lost among time and circumstances, but it can be said both he, the 'Pirate King' and his majesty Ethartus D. Makov, the renowned 'Failure King' of the legends have one thing in common."

"Well? Don't keep us waiting forever!"

"The details of the circumstances of their death. Minute things really. For example- what were Roger's final words?"

"I left everything in one piece."

"I left it all at that place."

"But you'll have to search the whole world."

"Now you'll just have to find it!"

"..."

A moment of silence reigned as the four Elder Stars who had spoken up turned to stare at one another.

Finally, he leaned back in his chair meditatively. "We five personally watched the execution's public televising. Together. In the same room."

"I can never forget that man! Or his final words!" The youngest of the group spoke up. He was heavily tanned with blond hair- the last of the five to still have his youthful looks. "There's no way… "

"Could it be that we have been influenced by gossip over these passing years?" The tall, thin one interjected.

"Enough- now, think of how Ethartus was said to have died."

"In battle? Peacefully? Vanished without a trace?" A heavily bearded man clutching his cane in his lap spoke. "There were many conflicting tales. That is your connection between Roger and Ethartus?"

"When Ethartus died, the Twenty Kingdoms completely obliterated the Ancient Civilization- and an era of prosperity began. A new age, if you will. When Roger died, the world was swept up in another wave, the Golden Era of Piracy. Now- listen to me a little longer, and I promise what I have to say, will be very fascinating indeed, if you can believe it."


End file.
